C. J. Huff's advertising: New Joplin High School will change education as we know it

As more than 2,000 students enter the new Joplin High School for the first day of classes Tuesday, September 2, they can feel pride in knowing they are entering a building that "will change education as we know it."

That line comes from the updated C. J. Huff biography on the Washington Speakers Bureau website. In an interview one year ago with the Joplin Globe, Huff said the Washington Speakers Bureau had approached him after the tornado and he had made one speech.

That interview came a few days after two Joplin High School students had published a blog post that included an audio of a WSB representative saying that Huff spoke frequently for WSB and charged $8,000 a speech, plus travel expenses.

Huff also did not list any income from speeches on financial disclosure statements, signed under penalty of perjury, that he was required to file with the Missouri Ethics Commission. (The photo accompanying this post is a screenshot of the portion of C. J. Huff's 2013 financial disclosure report that reveals outside income.)

Despite his insistence that he had only made the one speech for Washington Speakers Bureau as of August 2013, his biography has been updated to include the opening of the new Joplin High School and the continuing role he has played in leading the city of Joplin through its darkest hours to triumph.

Huff's WSB biography includes these last three paragraphs:

Huff’s declaration that “We will start school on time” is credited with being a key factor that drew the community of Joplin together just days after the tornado and provided a positive light for the country to rally around in the midst of such tragedy and destruction. To find and create learning space for 4,200 kids—54 percent of the district—in 12 weeks was a daunting task. “Somebody told me it couldn’t be done,” said Huff, “which is all it took to get me going.” On August 17, 2011 Joplin’s 7,700 students started the new school year on time. On May 21, 2012—just one day shy of the one year anniversary of the devastating tornado—President Barack Obama delivered the high school graduation commencement address.

Three years later, Joplin Schools continues to take the lead in the community's recovery effort. Huff and his team have encountered and overcome many challenges since that fateful day in May. Undaunted, his focus has remained unchanged as he and his team continue to take care of what he refers to as his "Joplin Schools' family" and crossing the recovery finish line strong. In August 2014, the last of the buildings destroyed by the storm will be rebuilt. Fulfilling yet another promise to build Joplin back bigger AND better, his students and staff will come home to the new Joplin High School after three long years. A 21st Century high school with a forward-looking and rigorous program of study to prepare students for a highly competitive workforce and global economy that has the potential to change public education as we know it.

Huff is well-respected by the community and his peers as a man of vision and a man that keeps his word. People magazine named him as one of their "2011 Heroes Among Us." Other recognitions include the 2013 Missouri “Superintendent of the Year” award, one of four finalists for the 2013 National Superintendent of the Year award, 2012 Missouri “National Education Association Horace Mann Award”, National School Public Relations Association’s “Bob Grossman Leadership in School Communications Award”, eSchool News 2012 “Tech-Savvy Superintendent Award”, Missouri Association of School Administrators 2012 “Pearce Award”, Missouri School Public Relations Association 2012 “Administrator of the Year” and the 2011 American School Board Journal Magna Award/Grand Prize Winner for “Joplin’s Bright Futures” initiative focusing on community engagement and drop-out prevention.

Huff's speaking tour has a number of stops between now and the end of the calendar year, including speeches in Saskatchewan, Chicago, and Kansas City, all of which are scheduled to take place during the school week.

Huff's next scheduled speech (at least of those that have been publicized) is scheduled for a week from tomorrow, Friday, September 5, when he speaks at 10:30 a.m. at the Rotary Zone 30 and 31 Institute at the Intercontinental Kansas City on the Plaza.

His topic, according to the advertising, will be "The Joplin Experience."