Community rallies to help math teacher after 200-foot tree destroys her home during a mountain rainstorm

Severe storms ripped through math teacher Jennifer Mantle’s Santa Cruz community of Boulder Creek in the early hours of Feb. 14, uprooting trees and causing dangerous mudslides throughout the mountainous town.

At 12:45 a.m., Mantle and her two children awoke to what they believed was an earthquake, only to discover that their shaking house and shattered glass, walls and doors had in fact been caused by a falling 200-foot fir tree.

“On that day, it was like hurricane winds, scary, like you hear it coming and you brace and you clench and you wait for it to go away,” Mantle said. “I was dead asleep, my children were asleep, and it was terror, utter terror. I can’t explain it any other way.”

The huge fir skidded off the corner of the Mantle house after the initial crash, tearing down walls and sending cold rain and wind screaming into their home.

“I opened the front door and you couldn’t see anything because there was no power,” Mantle said. “And then having wind and the rain coming in your house when it’s supposed to be your fortress? Scary.”

They were uninjured, but amidst a power outage, collapsed roof and protruding branches, Mantle and her children gathered some belongings and evacuated the house, unsure if the tree or even the walls of their house were stable. The fallen tree had also destroyed Mantle’s car.

The family stayed with various neighbors for the next several nights, eventually moving into associate superintendent Carrie Bosco’s family cabin. On March 11, the Mantles began renting a house across the highway from their old home. They plan to live there until their old home is demolished, rebuilt and eventually greenlighted for occupation — a process that could take months or years.

Although the Mantles’ insurance will cover most of the costs of rebuilding and tree removal, the family still has to pay insurance deductibles, buy a new car, replace lost belongings and pay many other expenses not covered by their insurance — and the costs of rebuilding are always uncertain.

Upon learning what had happened, friends, students and faculty quickly came to Mantle’s support.

A GoFundMe campaign created by one of the Mantles’ neighbors, Patty Hartmann, whose own house was unscathed by the storm, was originally set at a goal of $10,000 to help cover the out-of-pocket expenses. The campaign, titled “Help the best neighbors rebuild,” garnered immense support from friends, family, faculty and students, surpassing its initial goal within 24 hours. The page has since raised $27,410 for the family.

Junior Jinsu Yim first shared the GoFundMe link on the Saratoga High School Facebook group after hearing about the situation first from her dad, math teacher PJ Yim.

“She’s a really great and understanding person, beyond being my math teacher and my dad’s colleague,” Jinsu said. “I myself donated a small amount and while I wish I could have given more, I’m glad that I helped out a little bit by letting the rest of the school know.”

Likewise, several other members of the community sent messages of support for Mantle’s family through texts, messages, emails and cards.

“I can’t express anything but gratitude, gratitude for the fact that we’re all still alive, but also the support from everyone. It keeps you from feeling destitute,” Mantle said. “You don’t realize how many lives you touch in your life until something tragic happens. It’s really heartwarming just to know that we’ve built a community that’s supporting us in this time."