Pennsylvania, Texas schools connected by kindness after disaster

ByBeccah Hendrickson Localish logo
Wednesday, November 24, 2021
Pennsylvania, Texas schools connected by kindness after disaster
Two schools in Pennsylvania and Texas helped each other out after Hurricanes Harvey and Ida devastated their regions.Upper Dublin High School in Pennsylvania and Kingwood High School in Houston, Texas reciprocated kind acts after Hurricanes Harvey and Ida.

FORT WASHINGTON, Pa -- When Hurricane Harvey hit Houston in 2017, it devastated Kingwood High School.

Across the country in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania, Upper Dublin High School decided to help Kingwood recover.

Little did either school know, an Upper Dublin alum was actually living in Houston and sending her children to Kingwood.

Mary Neuman, the mom, immediately reached out to Upper Dublin to thank them and was then introduced to math teacher Mary Anna Swart, who had coordinated the effort.

Last September, Upper Dublin was hit by a tornado and sustained similar damage that Kingwood had four years prior. Kingwood students remembered how Upper Dublin had helped them and decided to return the kindness with fundraisers.

Once again, the effort was coordinated by Swart and Neuman, two neighbors from across the country now forever connected by kindness.