Kenneth Edwards, the agriculture teacher at Woodville K-8 School, turned his garage into a farm after three tornadoes left Tallahassee torn on May 10, displacing hundreds – and the school's animals.
Edwards set up cages and placed beds of hay to accommodate a goat, chicken, and several bunnies, including a litter of kit, the name for baby bunnies.
In the midst of the storm, he got in his car and rushed to the school, in an attempt to rescue the animals from strong winds and fallen trees.
"We were just focused on getting the animals secure. It was all about preserving life," he said.
But as he arrived on campus in torrential rain, he found destroyed enclosures, and quail carcasses scattered in the parking lot, left behind by hawks and crows that were feeding on them. Most of the chickens, quail and a pheasant escaped their battered enclosures.
"We were just throwing animals in boxes, throwing them in the back of my car right in the middle of that downpour because we couldn't just leave them there. They were being eaten," he said.
He noted the devoured quail were a special breed named after the school and crossbred by students for a jumbo size, with distinct colors of black, blue, green and red speckles, characteristics Edwards said took "eight generations of breeding."
As he searched for the animals with his wife and loaded them in the trunk of his car, his heart ached. What would he say to his students, who had become dearly attached to the farm? How could he tell them about their hard work being destroyed?
"All of the animals here have a name, even the quail," he said of the animals.
Edwards, the district's 2023-24 Glenn-Howell Distinguished Educator of the Year, said the agricultural program consists of goats, bunnies, chickens, quail, and 41 tilapias being grown in an aquaponics system in his classroom.
Mustang community rallies support for their animals
Edwards said the primary concern for students upon returning to school was making sure the animals were safe.
"Everybody's got their own little animal that they're attached to," he said last week. "When they found out a few of them were dead, they were pretty bummed."
Some students in his eighth-grade class immediately got to work, helping to round up chickens, one even capturing the escaped pheasant. Help came from all around, even from out of town.
"Somebody that we didn't know was so generous to bring us some pens that they built," he said.
Krystal Harris, co-owner of Harris Ag Enclosures in Bainbridge, Georgia, said her daughter stumbled across a post reporting on damage to the enclosures at the school and immediately called her.
Harris, and her husband Frank loaded their trailer with enclosures valued at about $5,000 to give to the school free of charge. She also brought in a few chicks to help replace the quail.
"I said, 'Oh my goodness.' This is some way that we can give back and help the community, and from there it just kind of flourished," Harris said.
But by the time she made it to the school Wednesday afternoon, they had another major surprise.
"Despite being cold for three days, our quail eggs are hatching right now," Edwards said. "I don't know how; I really don't have a scientific explanation for that."
"It's crazy because that doesn't happen. You have to have it at a very specific temperature, at 100 degrees exactly, if you go over at all or under at all, it's done for."
The next generation of Woodville quail hatched in their incubator, despite it being out of power for three days. He called the event a miracle.
The school lost a lot and opened fundraising campaigns to help recover. Edwards said in the span of a few days the school collected $14,098.93 in donations.
"There's been so much negativity, and I cried, because that's such a big thing, and there are good people that are helping," he said in an interview. "This tragedy has turned into a real blessing. I am full of joy right now."
The animals were swiftly moved from Edwards' garage, back to the school to their new enclosures Wednesday.
Alaijah Brown covers children & families for the Tallahassee Democrat. She can be reached at ABrown1@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter/X:@AlaijahBrown3
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Good news: Woodville School gets donations for students, farm animals
