As a college planning resources provider in Louisiana, I have the occasion to work with students who are preparing for post-secondary education. On May 20, 2014, I traveled to Reserve, Louisiana to work with students at East St. John High School, many of which are first generation Americans who will hopefully soon find themselves among other successful immigrants to the United States.
They have faced many obstacles alone, but in August of 2012, they found themselves equal in their struggle with all residents of the parish as Hurricane Isaac caused severe flooding due to storm surge which peaked at Lake Pontchartrain. St. John the Baptist Parish sits outside the federal hurricane protection levee system and doesn't have adequate drainage pumping stations like neighboring St. Charles and Jefferson parishes, but relies on gravity to drain water to the lake.
More than 6,000 people were evacuated and hundreds more were stranded by the quickly rising water. Fortunately, although there were no storm-related deaths, about 2,000 students were displaced when East St. John High and Pontchartrain Elementary schools flooded. Many are still continuing their education at alternative sites. East St. John High School plans to reopen it's campus in the fall of 2015.
The parish has continued it's recovery by producing it's beloved sugarcane, which has been an integral part of the culture for more than 200 years. Thanks to Jesuit priests, who first brought sugarcane into south Louisiana in 1751, the foundation was laid for an industry that now contributes $2 billion to the Louisiana economy.
An early sugar cane grinder used in the area
