Displaced students have temporary school

OCONTO FALLS - With their school in fire ridden shambles, class won't be the same for students at St. Anthony Elementary School.

"Well, I'm just devastated,” said Cole Bertrand, a fifth grader. “I've been here for 6 years. I don't know how this happened but I'm just devastated."

Despite the fire, classes must go on. Starting next week, they will resume less than a mile away at Grace Lutheran Church.

“The teachers are ecstatic, they know where they are going next week,” said Rosemary Marifke, St. Anthony’s principal. “I've been to the bus garage, they should be busing our children here on Monday morning.”

“For the students it's going to be a little harder for them and that's why we need to make it easier for the school, because the students are the ones who are going to go through the hardship,” said Larry Bong, the pastor at Grace Lutheran.

If the morning after the fire was an indicator, the hardships could be especially difficult for younger students.

St. Anthony's staff hopes the healing starts with the move to its makeshift school.

“Once we're started and we're settled in, we'll be fine,” said Marifke.

It isn't clear how long St. Anthony classes will be held at Grace Lutheran.

Books, markers and other classroom materials ruined in the fire need to be replaced. Donations have already started flowing in from area schools.

“This is a great community we live in and with their help, we will survive,” said Marifke.