SOLEN, N.D. (AP) - The student body at the high school in Solen on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation has nearly tripled in size, and many of the new students are looking up to the older students - literally.
The 115 students from the elementary school in Cannon Ball are attending classes with the 65 high schoolers in Solen while their school is repaired and cleaned following a large grass fire. The Oct. 11 blaze melted playground equipment and filled the school with smoke and soot.
Mark Grey Cloud, a 16 year-old junior, told KXMB-TV (https://bit.ly/1PA7qWa ) that it’s an unusual situation.
“I just kind of laugh because they’re so small. It’s like what are you doing here?” he said with a laugh.
Some of the younger students were a bit scared to be in the same building with the older kids, but “they’re really resilient,” Solen High School Principal Jeff Brandt said.
“You kind of tell them, yeah, it’s a good adventure for the next couple weeks and then we’ll be back over there,” he said.
Elementary school teachers also have had to adapt because most of their teaching materials are in Cannon Ball.
“A lot of the elementary teachers have had to get creative,” Brandt said.
Cannon Ball Elementary is scheduled to reopen Oct. 29, he said.
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Information from: KXMB-TV, https://www.kxnet.com
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