Parents and educators help students cope with fire trauma, again

by Ashley A. Smith, EdSource and Sydney Johnson November 2, 2019November 2, 2019

Bianca Chavarria, a student at Santa Rosa Junior College, was evacuated from her home in Windsor. (Photo by Sydney Johnson/EdSource)

Rene Chavarria, a student at Santa Rosa Junior College, was supposed to take two tests this past week. Instead, he’s taking shelter with his parents, sisters and grandmother at an evacuation center in Petaluma, about 30 miles south of where the Kincade fire has burned more than 76,000 acres in Sonoma County this past week.

But classes weren’t top of mind as he sat with his family and pet birds on Oct. 29, three days since their family was displaced from their home in Windsor due to the Kincade fire. “Right now, I’m just thinking of when we will get to go back home,” he said.