MANCHESTER – It might have been terrible luck that caused a Manchester Township Middle School teacher to have been struck by lightning, but the outpouring of support afterward was anything but random. It was the result of a compassionate community.
Jessica Geiger, 33, was on bus duty after school on March 7, according to a police report. She was reportedly holding an umbrella while standing on the sidewalk in the front of the school. It was a rare sense of thundersnow, when snow is the precipitation that falls during a thunderstorm instead of rain.
Police had reported that she was conscious and talking when they arrived, and she had been taken to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune.
Geiger, an 8th grade language arts teacher, returned to school on March 16.
“I am fine, which is a miracle,” she said.
Other staff from the school brought her inside and made sure she was safe. “The staff were like my angels,” she said.
She thanked the staff, administration, and the kids for all the gifts, cards, and flowers she received during her recovery. She returned to see posters welcoming her back. Of course, some of students had a little fun at her expense. “I was so shocked to hear this happened…” or, it was an “electrifying experience.”
When she came back, her students wanted to know if she had super powers now. “Of course I do. I’m a teacher. All teachers have super powers.”
Principal Nancy Driber celebrated the faculty for two reasons: how they responded in an emergency, and how they came together to support a coworker in a time of need. “I’m super proud of the whole staff. None of the staff members worried about themselves. They instinctively wanted to help. Words cannot express how proud I am.”
