NEDERLAND — A sure sign of a return to normalcy after Hurricane Ike is students back in school.

After nearly two weeks of no school, not only students, but teachers in Nederland and Port Neches-Groves ISD are ready to get back into the swing of things. Other districts will begin school later in the month.

Laura Enterline teaches fourth grade at Hillcrest Elementary in Nederland. She said it’s “great” to be back at school and she couldn’t wait to get back to work.

“I feel more normal. I can’t wait to see the kids,” she said. “Going down (FM) 365 from Houston (after evacuation), you see how hard it was and houses empty. It just breaks your heart. Two of our teachers live in Bridge City with water in their houses.”

Enterline said Hillcrest doesn’t waste any time and she doesn’t think the time missed will be such a problem. In fact, she was picking up in her lesson plan where they left off.

“We run at 90 miles per hour. We’re pretty efficient. Our kids are on target and we’ll pick up where we left off. We don’t teach fluff. We really didn’t miss a beat. The kids are ready to be normal,” she said.

Kathleen Yosko teaches English and Pat Comeaux teaches science at Port Neches-Groves High School. They also said it was good to be back at work and back to normal.

“You look at Port Neches and Groves, we were so much more blessed and have homes to come back to and we can help others in the community,” Yosko said. “Our prayers are with all those people. We were hit hard by Rita and we feel for everybody.”

Yosko said she works with the student council and they will meet to discuss ways they can help damaged homes.

She added it was very difficult for some people while Comeaux said she is taking things one day at a time.

“We did it with Rita (in making up for lost time) and we can compact the curriculum,” Yosko said. “We’re experienced teachers and we can do it.”

The comparison of damages means nothing when entire communities are hurting.

“A fence down is nothing (compared to the loss of a home). There are so many communities down,” Comeaux said.