“When the students found out the next day, they had brought in counselors,” Hess said. “And when the children started speaking up about ‘they are sad,’ ‘this is my family,’ ‘I don’t want the school to close,’ etc., I had to walk out because it broke my heart. I didn’t want to have the children see me cry. I wanted them to know it was going to be OK, and when one door closes another opens.”
