The first thing Huff did after the tornado was strip all his employees of their job titles. He analyzed their strengths and weaknesses and created new job descriptions based on the overall strength of each team member. With Huff at the lead, the team moved forward as a cohesive unit instead of as individual faculty and administration.
The presentation was filled with emotion.
The 2013 Superintendent of the Year made the audience laugh, cry and evaluate the priorities their school currently maintains. He presented a slideshow that included pictures and videos of the devastation that the tornado left behind. He moved from topic to topic within the tragedy, talking calmly about the challenges that he and his community had to overcome.
Then he stopped and took a deep breath.
He tried not to, but eventually Huff began crying as he talked about the children who were injured during the storm.
Huff also talked to the Columbians about the opening of three new schools last month:
Joplin opened three new schools this year on Jan. 9. A second-grade boy was walking down the halls on the first day of his brand new school when a teacher asked him a question.
“What do you think of the new building” she said, “Does it feel like school?”
He looked at her point blank and said, “No, it feels like happiness.”
3 comments:
Who knew that Huff was a dairy farmer. He has milked this topic to death. It's a regular cash cow for him, as well as a silver-lined blessing for Bessie. Funny, right after the tornado the majority of us were more concerned with saving lives than anything else.
Oh, gag me. Give the man his Oscar already so he can move on. Preferably a long way down the road. He should be crying about the crappy state his district is in now instead of what it looked like then. He made this disaster.
He must be crying because there hasn't been a tornado lately. He is an emotional vampire, who thrives on pain and dispair.
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