A school made whole

Within hours after a tornado in May 2003 damaged Immaculate Conception School in Jackson, school officials, parents and community members were making plans for the next school year and for construction of a new building.

Last week, the new Immaculate Conception School was dedicated, and classes have begun.

In the months since the tornado, classes were held in temporary buildings. St. Paul Lutheran School made its gym available for physical education. And fund raising and construction began in earnest.

What some Immaculate Conception families are calling a miracle resulted in a library, music room, larger classrooms and a bigger gymnasium.

In general, Jackson homes, businesses and public buildings destroyed or damaged by the tornado have been repaired and rebuilt. The town once again has the shine of a prosperous community -- the kind of shine that makes any community proud.

Hats off to everyone who helped in so many ways to make Immaculate Conception School whole again. It was a big project undertaken in less-than-pleasant circumstances. But if ever lemons were turned into lemonade, it happened with the Immaculate Conception family.