Ex-principal recalls lost students, teacher

PHIL CAMPBELL — On the morning of April 27, 2011, Phil Campbell Elementary School (PCES) Principal Jackie Ergle was aware of the threat of severe weather supposedly coming through the area, but little could prepare her for what would soon unfold.

While her home remained relatively untouched by the EF-5 tornado, what she saw in other parts of town after the storm passed became seared into her memory.

“I don’t think anybody thought the storm would bring the devastation it ended up bringing,” Ergle said. “As my husband and I drove through town, it looked like a war zone. I remember tearing up and I told my husband that I didn’t think people were going to be able to get through this. It was that bad.”

At PCES, students and faculty barely got their typical day of studies underway before receiving the first of what would be many tornado warnings.

After the first warning was issued around 10:45, students lined the hallways of the school in accordance with their severe weather preparedness policy.

Shortly before 1 p.m., the decision was made to close the school for the day and send students home — less than two hours before the massive, mile-wide tornado tore through the town.

By 4 p.m., a large portion of Phil Campbell was almost unrecognizable.

Homes were swept off their foundations, cars were picked up and tossed like pieces of paper, and the high school — a landmark for the community — was reduced to rubble.

While PCES received minimal structural damage, the impact went far beyond the four walls of a classroom.

By the time the tornado made its way east, PCES second-grade teacher Patricia Gentry, fourthgrade student Ethan Knox and third-grade student Edgar Mojica were among the 21 Phil Campbell residents killed in the storm.

While the decision to send students home early was made by county school officials, Ergle can’t help but feel as though things may have turned out differently had her students remained in the concrete building.

“I guess the thing that’s always stuck in my mind is that I wonder if that was the right thing to do,” Ergle said. “Because our building stood, but, of course, no one knew what would be hit and nobody could have seen the high school getting hit but not our school. It’s just one of those things I’ve always wondered about.”

In the weeks following the storms, Ergle recalled the outpouring of support from fellow Franklin County residents and those with absolutely no ties to the area at all.

“The entire community pulled together, but we had so many people come from out of state coming in just to lend a hand,” Ergle said. “Everyone pitched in — most of whom we didn’t even know. They just wanted to help in any way they could and I’m personally so thankful for that support.”

For a town the size of Phil Campbell, which boasted a population of approximately 1,200 residents at the time the tornadoes swept through, the damage and devastation is often too massive to overcome.

However, Ergle believes the one thing that kept Phil Campbell from falling into despair is the schools themselves.

“People take pride in these schools,” Ergle said. “Whether it’s our football, baseball, basketball teams or whatever it is, people love and support these kids and these schools. I think that was something for the town to really come together on and support even in those dark times.”

Ergle retired as principal of PCES in 2018 but has remained active pulling duties such as being a substitute teacher, serving in her church ministry, and attending her granddaughter’s recitals in Birmingham.

Despite keeping herself busy in retirement, Ergle still thinks about the days, weeks, months and years after the storms.

She also remembers Gentry, Knox and Mojica fondly 15 years later.

Prior to the school closing earlier in the day, Ergle said Gentry requested Ergle come to her classroom to see a bulletin board her students had created. The subject matter of the billboard was: “April showers bring May flowers.”

“She (Gentry) was so proud of her class, and they had made the most beautiful thing,” Ergle said. “She was such a wonderful teacher and person. And Ethan and Edgar were so eager to learn. They were just happy kids who were so bright and brought joy every day to school.”

Students remained out of school for the following two weeks. Grief counselors were brought in to help students process the trauma the past 14 days had brought with them.

Upon returning, Ergle recalled students smiling and hugging one another after the hiatus, but the young students also had a sense of melancholy as well.

“You could just tell how they were talking to one another and hugging each other that they had some sense of what had really happened,” Ergle said. “They were so glad to be back at school and with their friends, but there was just this feeling there.”

Over the past 15 years, Ergle, like many Phil Campbell residents, has had plenty of time to reflect, grieve and attempt to heal from the traumatic experiences of April 27, 2011.

But one memory remains embedded in her mind that fateful day before her students were sent home.

“I remember Edgar was at the end of the building where his class was and when he came by when we dismissed the students, he came up and waved and smiled so big at me,” Ergle said. “I’ll always remember that smile. I’ll never let that leave me.”