Henryville teachers receive donated science lab supplies

Eli Lilly donates $40,000 worth of equipment to school devastated by tornado.

Vanessa McClure

12:45 p.m. AKDT, May 2, 2012

Indianapolis

Henryville science teachers spent Wednesday morning hand-picking supplies for their students.

"It's like Christmas time for us," said Leah Seng, who teaches high school Science.

Seng and two of her coworkers combed thruogh boxes of gently used lab materials and office supplies to take back to their classrooms.

"Between what the tornado destroyed and what was water damaged, we're not really sure what we have and what we don't have," said Seng.

The March 2 twister that tore through Henryville damaged about 40 percent of the school. Cleanup crews boxed and removed things from inside the damaged classroom and put them in storage.

Right now, the students are in a temporary building, but there are no desks, no lab tables and hardly any Science supplies.

The Lilly Asset Recovery Department sorts out used equipment for re-purposing. If they can't resell or keep it within the company, Lilly donates the supplies to school districts.

"Teachers Day is a way to give back to the community. It's mostly lab supplies and equipment, office supplies and equipment, and today we decided to sort of have an exclusive Teachers Day for the Henrvyille schools," said Wayne Poole, with the Lilly Asset Recovery Department.

Seng said the supplies will help them not only replace what was lost but in some cases will improve their resources beyond what they had before the tornado hit. She said the disaster has been a lesson for the community on the power of the human spirit.

"The tornado, for most of us, has been humbling. You take what you have for granted. I think the one thing we didn't expect was the outpouring of love from communities and businesses across the nation," said Seng.

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