For Immediate Release • September 14, 2005
Terren Roloff, Director
Community Relations
Phone: 354-7338

SPS Welcomes Families from New Orleans

He had lived through hurricanes before - seen the toppled trees, felt the gusty winds and rain. The storms are a seasonal fact of life in New Orleans, where people are known to hold hurricane parties.

But on Aug. 28, Yevgeniy Ampleyev, a master's student at the University of New Orleans, realized he had to get out.

At first, he didn't think much about it.

"I wasn't planning on going anywhere," said Ampleyev, who lives with his son Alex, 14, and daughter Masha, 11. A neighbor had asked him to board up her windows, and she persuaded him to go. "I thought it might be scary for Masha," he said.

Ampleyev put everything in his apartment up high, grabbed a tent, sleeping bags, a camping stove, a few clothes for the kids and some dry foods. He thought they'd spend the night away from hurricane central and then return the next day.

As he packed the car, he noticed there was room for two more people. He asked his son who he'd like to take. Alex chose his friend Isaac Johnson, 14, and Isaac's mom, Victoria S. Howard.

A life-long New Orleans resident, Howard has three brothers and seven sisters, many of whom had already left town. Having no car, she had planned to go to the Superdome. But then Ampleyev intervened. "Maybe the Lord sent him by," Howard said. "He's my guardian angel."

To get out of town, Ampleyev drove 15 mph for 10 hours. The group stayed at a rest stop the first night, and saw on the news that they'd probably need to be gone more than one night.

Ampleyev's parents, who live in Spokane, urged him to stay with them. It's a familiar area - he had done his undergraduate work at Eastern Washington University, and Alex and Masha had even attended Spokane Public Schools.

Once in Spokane, they met up with Edie Sims of Spokane Public Schools' HEART program. She let them know that all students have a legal right to immediate enrollment and attendance, even without immunization papers or school records. She also helped them get connected with schools and aid services. Though Alex and Masha weren't living within the Shaw and Bemiss boundaries - the schools they had previously attended - Sims and the school staffs made sure they could attend the schools with which they were most familiar. And they made sure Alex and Isaac could attend Shaw together.

Howard and Ampleyev said their children now seem to be doing OK. "They come home from school with a good spirit, laughing and talking," Howard said. "That's a good sign they're doing fine."

The children will stay in Spokane at least through the end of the school year. Ampleyev plans to finish off his degree by working with his thesis advisor online, and then intends to return to New Orleans.

Howard said for now she's holding off on making a decision about the future. "I'll go back and see what's going on, and then I'll decide if I'll stay or go," she said. "I don't know."

For more information about the HEART program, call 354-3004.