HOWARD COUNTY, Ind. – It’s been exactly one week since more than 20 tornadoes touched down in the Hoosier state. And over this past week, we’ve seen communities across the state step up to help one other during this difficult time.

This includes the Taylor Community School Corporation helping out someone important to them.

“I hope we don’t have to ever go through this again,” Chris Sellers, a lifelong Indiana resident said.

Chris Sellers has called this place home his entire life, but in a matter of minutes that all changed.

“The home is gone. The barn and garage are gone. It’s just total devastation.” he said.

That very night, Sellers lived through a powerful tornado. He says he is just thankful for his life.

“I have seen them and I have been close to them, but I never thought I would have to live through one,” Sellers said.

The destruction left Sellers’ with a huge task of picking up and putting his life back together. But he couldn’t do it alone. That’s when the community stepped up to help.

Sellers’ has worked as a bus driver with the Taylor Community School Corporation for nearly 30 years. Now, his students are giving back to him.

“He deserves it,” Cody Groves, a senior at Taylor Community High School, said. “He’s a great man that helps us every day. He doesn’t take days off. He does his thing every day with no complaints.”

On Thursday, 75 high school students pitched in to help Sellers’ clean up his property.

“It’s always nice to make an impact, especially since he has made an impact on all of the students,” Alexis DeBard, a sophomore at Taylor Community High School, said. “We can always help, and it shows we are a family.”

These students spent several hours working together, and it was all to help their bus driver save years of memories from his home.

“They went above and beyond with what I thought they’d do,” Sellers said. “They did so much more than what I expected.”  

And this day was just as big of a deal to Sellers’ as it was to these students.

“It’s an important lesson you can’t teach in the walls of a school,” Brian Moon, the assistant principal at Taylor Community High School, said. “Giving back to your community during a tragedy is one of the great choices you can make to uplift everyone and help carry and shoulder that burden that an individual in our community and in our Taylor family was feeling.”

Sellers still has a lot to do to bring his home back to what it was but he’s thankful he has his community supporting him!

“This is the way the whole county is – they’re always willing to help anybody,” he said.

The hope is Sellers’ can start the rebuilding process on his property soon.