After Hurricane Katrina shut Warren Easton Charter High School in New Orleans for a full year, Sandra Bullock adopted it. She kept helping for years, and in May 2014 she walked into the school's graduation by surprise and gave the commencement speech.

A School Older Than the Storm

Warren Easton opened in 1843 as Boys High School, which Wikipedia describes as the first high school in the State of Louisiana. It was later named for Warren Easton, the first Supervisor of Education of the State of Louisiana and the City of New Orleans.

Before Katrina, the school served as an evacuation point. The New Orleans Regional Transit Authority designated it as a place where people could get transportation to the Louisiana Superdome.

After the storm, the heavily damaged building closed for a full year. It reopened as a charter school in 2006.

The Adoption

According to the school's own account, Bullock adopted Warren Easton less than six months after Katrina closed the building.

The school lists what her support covered: band uniforms, athletic equipment, funds for college scholarships for graduating seniors, and money toward renovating the auditorium.

She also helped fund a school-based health clinic. The school cited this work alongside the People's Choice Award for Favorite Humanitarian she won in 2013.

The Clinic Opens

The full-service medical and dental clinic held its ribbon-cutting on August 29, 2010, the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Bullock was a featured speaker.

She was not the only backer. The school lists the Kellogg Foundation and the San Francisco 49ers Foundation as funders alongside her, with Tulane Medical Center, Louisiana School Health Connection and the Warren Easton Charter High School Foundation as partners.

The Warren Easton High School marching band in practice sweats marching down a New Orleans street with trombones and tubas, as in the 2008 Bart Everson photo on Wikimedia Commons — The Warren Easton marching band on a Mid-City street.

The Surprise at Graduation

On May 19, 2014, about 200 seniors at Warren Easton sat down for commencement and found Bullock at the podium.

Her advice was practical and light. "Stop worrying so much. Okay? Stop being scared of the unknown," she told them, and "Do not pick your nose in public."

She also said, "Go find your joy. Whatever that is, go find your joy." She told the class that her four-year-old son, who is from New Orleans, had inspired the wisdom she chose to share.

The School Today

Warren Easton is still open as a charter school. In the 2023-24 school year it had 1,152 students.

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