Coweta Student Athletes Help Pick Up After Tornado Leaves Damage, Debris Behind

Classes are out for Coweta Public Schools students for the rest of the week after an EF-1 tornado hit the high school campus.

The Superintendent said nine HVAC units were either damaged or ripped off the roof of the school.

Classrooms have water damage and students will be out of school all week, but that didn't stop some student athletes from coming up to campus Monday to help out where they could.

"Many hands make light work," said Coweta Baseball Coach Mason Stookey. 

If there was a shard of glass in the sand of the baseball fields, these players found it.

"The baseball field got hit pretty hard. We lost almost all of our outfield fence, some of the siding, we have glass all over the field that we are currently picking up," said Stookey. 

They spent time going through the sand and grass of the field, picking up debris from the tornado Sunday night.

"The small things - responsibility, accountability, attention to detail - having them put a little bit of sweat equity into the field helps them appreciate it a little more," said Stookey. 

They weren't alone. The football team did the same clean up, using trucks to stack pieces of metal and wood and teamwork to get the piles into dumpsters.

"Most of the debris we found in our field has been from baseball," said Coweta Football player, Braden Doerr. 

"I am used to tornados and everything, but it is bad right now," said Coweta Football player, Cutter Harrington. 

The players said, even though the fields were damaged, they are grateful they could do something to help.

Inside of the hallways of Mission, there is more work to be done.

One teacher posted pictures of her classroom online, saying "I'm so thankful that this happened in the middle of the night, and we were not there. This is where I spend my days with my students. This is our home away from home. It's hard to think that it can be destroyed in such a short amount of time."

A shaved ice shop in Coweta, Cactus Cones, posted on Facebook that they will be donating 20 percent of their profits and 100 percent of their tips on Tuesday to Mission to help with storm damage costs.