Even a tornado can't topple the dedication of some distant learners.

AL.com reports that distance learning classmates came to aid of Alabama's Cordova High School after it had been struck by a twister during the recent spate of extreme weather affecting the Southeast.

Students at Oak Grove High School had been sharing an Advanced Placement calculus class with their Cordova classmates. The two groups of students communicated via various distance learning technology -- cameras, big-screen televisions, and so on -- throughout the academic year.

When the tornado struck Cordova, their Oak Grove compatriots stood ready to help.

Oak Grove students raced to the rescue, loading up supplies and other necessities for their distance-learning classmates.

Some Cordova students speculate that Oak Grove responded so quickly because they too had been the victims of a devastating tornado back in 1998.

The rescue mission also allowed the classmates to meet for the second time in their lives. The Oak Grove students welcomed their distance-learning classmates, who bore them sandwiches, cold drinks, and survival kits filled with soap and gloves. Oak Grove students also held a car wash and sold tee shirts to raise money for the victims of the recent tornado.

Distance learning can bring seemingly far flung communities together -- and often for the better.