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Sprinkled in between the tales of horror and sadness to come out of tornado-ravaged Plaza Towers Elementary School, in Moore, Okla., are stories of brave teachers putting their lives on the line for students.
Fourth-grader Damian Britton described one such teacher this morning, when he appeared on NBC’s TODAY. Rhonda Crosswhite, a sixth-grade teacher at the school, used her body as a shield to protect Britton and other students from the deadly storm.
"She was covering me and my friend Zachary,'' Britton said. "I told her we were fine because we were holding on to something, and then she went over to my friend Antonio and covered him, so she saved our lives.”
The show also captured an emotional reunion between Crosswhite, Britton and Britton’s mom, Brandi Kline.
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"I told you we were going to be OK,'' Crosswhite said to Britton.
Another Plaza Towers teacher, Becky Joe Evans, told her friend Edie Cordray that she used her body to cover students from falling debris, according to a story in the L.A. Times.
The destructive tornado hit Moore, which is located outside of Oklahoma City, yesterday afternoon.