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It’s been almost a year since the May 22nd tornado devastated Joplin. The historic EF-5
tornado leveled businesses, homes, and the majority of the Joplin school district. For
Superintendent CJ Huff, he understands moving forward that Joplin as well as himself have
the responsibility to rebuild even stronger. CJ Huff- “You know I think that we are in
a situation where we have a tremendous opportunity to be better than we were before and I think
most everybody in the community realizes that and wants that to happen. So my job is you
know partnering with the community and the chamber of commerce, the city of Joplin and
many other entities to determine what that new future is supposed to look like.”
The future of the Joplin School district thanks to the leadership that Huff and his team displayed
following the tornado, is something that people, organizations and students around the country
have drawn inspiration from. CJ Huff-“I had a kid that came up to me
said ‘I just wanted to meet you, wanted to thank you for what you’ve given us,’
and he was so inspired he says he’s going to grow up and be a teacher and then he’s
gonna come and then he’s gonna become a principle and then someday he said ‘I want
your job’ and I said you know by that time I’ll be ready to give it to you so get after
it. So were really blessed in this community. We’ve got great people and great support
and we’ve got a lot of wonderful kids and amazing staff and everybody has just been
so positive throughout. You can’t help but be inspired by that so getting up out of bed
every morning and working late has not been too terribly painful because we have such
wonderful people that they deserve the best and you want to give it to them.”
When it comes to giving his best, it’s not uncommon for the superintendent to put in
a 12 to 16 hour workday and as the months keep rolling by since the tornado, the long
hours at the office have taken their toll. CJ-Huff- “You know where I lack the most
right now personally is spending time with my family which is getting more and more difficult
as far as you know the emotional tax of not being able to do that, so I’ve got to get
through that. Exercise doesn’t happen, I want it to but it doesn’t happen. I’ve
even laid my shorts out a time or two thinking I’d go in the next day but it just doesn’t
happen and just lack of sleep at this point, so. I think you know, I think the light at
the end of the tunnel for us is possibly this summer as we get construction and things coming
up out of the ground, I think we’re going to be okay. If we can figure out the funding
components, how we’re going to pay for it and get through April, get through May and
June I think we’re five or six months away from being able to get back to some resemblance
of normal.” As for the future of Joplin and the school
district, Superintendent CJ Huff offers some words of encouragement.
CJ Huff- “ I think if I were to give any advice to anybody in this community, my leadership
team, my staff and students, the thing I’ve learned is that it’s all about when you
know that the recovery is going to be a long recovery you have to set those short term
goals and you have to sometimes you have to live day by day, week by week. But make sure
that you’re always moving forward and looking forward and keep a smile on your face and
continue to do the right things for the right reasons and it will all work out in the end.
I don’t know exactly what this is going to look like when it’s all over but I know
it’s going to be something pretty fantastic and something we’ll all be proud of as we
look back on what we’ve accomplished. Once we hit August 2014 looking back to May 22,
2012 I think people will see the path that we’ve been on and will be proud of what
we were able to get done.”