Thursday, October 02, 2014

Bright Futures on ribbon-cutting: We're straying from our mission, but it's OK

One of the comparisons that has been made between Joplin Bright Futures and the Bright Futures organizations that have flourished in neighboring school districts is that the ones in Webb City, Neosho, Carthage, East Newton, and elsewhere have actually stuck to the original ideals of the organization while Joplin's Bright Futures has become a catchall for C. J. Huff's latest interests.

That difference has been pronounced this week in the case of the Friday, October 3, dedication of Joplin High School/Franklin Technical Center, which will include speeches by Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, as well as the cutting of a six-and-a-half-mile record-breaking ceremonial ribbon.

Even Joplin Bright Futures seems to feel the need to explain its involvement in this event, which is a far cry from the organization's original purpose. The following message was placed on the Bright Futures Facebook page:

This week, our team has the distinct pleasure of getting to work together with the incredible group of people putting together the Ribbon Cutting Ceremony this Friday. While generally this might be outside of our scope, this week it's oh so relevant to our mission.

This attached video was produced just 2 1/2 months after the storm for the "I Am Joplin" event that brought our community together for the first time after the storm - to reunite, reconnect, rejuvenate and remember TOGETHER. There were thousands of people present at that historic and powerful event!

This Friday, we have yet another chance to bring our community back together to honor those that lost their lives, to remember the long hard road that our community has journeyed, to celebrate the monumental hurdles we have overcome, and to dedicate that which we have built together! Tonight I wanted to share this video again to remind each of us why this celebration is important. It's not just about whether our building is 100% complete (because obviously it's not), it's not about who will be attending or anything that will be done during the ceremony - it's about our community that has suffered more loss than can ever be truly communicated - and yet we have stood TOGETHER. Never forgetting. Forever changed. Moving forward.

We hope you'll join us.
http://vimeo.com/27525441

I hate to shatter anyone's illusions, but there is a big difference between the "I Am Joplin" event and what has been planned for this Friday.
at

2 comments:

  1. Anonymous6:01 AM

    This is proof from their own mouths, Bright Futures is a Slush Fund for school employees.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous10:09 AM

    Just as conquering armies have proclaimed justification for their aggression by citing that " God is on our side," atrocities cloaked in divine
    wishes, slavery and misogyny supported by religious texts, and so on throughout history; this group wraps itself in the burial shrouds of all thiose who perished on that fateful day.

    As like many Joplinites,
    I knew several of these people.
    Wrapping CJ's political agenda in their burial shrouds is highly disrespectful to this entire community. I suppose, given the fact that they have yet to voice their objections, it is taken as an endorsement by the deceased.

    ReplyDelete