With the support of our fellow Americans, Puerto Rico can recover

We have a funny expression in Spanish, “No hay mal que por bien no venga,” which assumes there is always good that will come out of any bad situation. It is not easy to find that silver lining amidst the devastation wrought by Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico. But as Puerto Rico’s Secretary of Education, I’m determined to be that eternal optimist for the students of our island.

More than three weeks after storm, the people of Puerto Rico are still hurting, but their resilient spirit remains unshaken. Bit by bit, Puerto Ricans have banded together to clean debris, share food and water and comfort one another through the biggest natural disaster to hit our island in over 90 years. And we are grateful for the assistance of our fellow Americans.

{mosads}Nowhere is that spirit of resilience more apparent than in our young people. Despite scarce water and electricity, Puerto Rican students have been eager to get back to learning. We have been able to open backup 167 schools. And we have an ambitious target of getting most schools across the island up and running by Oct. 23.

These schools have also served double duty — functioning as community centers where people can get the services they need to get back on their feet. They have served as safe spaces for children to play and return a sense of normalcy to their daily routines. We have been able to feed children whose parents may otherwise struggle to provide them regular water and meals.

But we must seize this opportunity to re-envision the future for Puerto Rico’s youth. I am determined to see how we can not only get Puerto Rican children back on track, but also open up new opportunities for them along the way. I am committed to see how our educational system can build back better so that we make smart investments in the next generation.

Make no mistake: we can solve our own problems on the island, but we need a helping hand from our fellow Americans. Hurricane Maria did not just damage buildings and infrastructure​ — it was a shock to a system already stressed by economic decline, inequity, emigration and other challenges.

A robust recovery package from the US Congress should look to address these challenges comprehensively so that we can truly lift up the island and create paths for growth and inclusion, starting with our young people.

We should not just build back our schools, but strengthen the quality of our educational system so that our youth are better prepared to compete both on and off the island. Puerto Rico has experienced a drain brain in recent years.

We must work aggressively to tackle this challenge by better equipping and incentivizing our youth and our teachers to contribute to Puerto Rico’s economy. Even before the storm we were planning comprehensive reforms to improve our schools. Hurricane Maria has not stopped these efforts — instead it should accelerate our work.

Disasters often bring communities together — and we should take this moment to strengthen ties between Puerto Rico and the mainland. In order to help our youth deal with the emotions and stress they faced after the hurricane, we brought in an expert from Miami-Dade

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County ​schools to share best practices in trauma care. We were also fortunate to have visits from officials from New York, Florida and elsewhere.

We need more of these opportunities to share best practices with our sister school systems across the 50 states, whether it is in experiential learning, psychosocial support or best practices in STEM education.

This is also an opportunity to share our rich heritage with our fellow Americans across the 50 states through cultural and educational exchanges.

Together, with the support of our fellow Americans on the mainland, we can turn the tide and get Puerto Rico back on a path to recovery and resilience. We owe that to the children of Puerto Rico.

Julia Keleher is the secretary of education in Puerto Rico​​.