Though the speaker did not mention the child by name, he told the story of a child who was saddled with problems the moment he was born.
"There are some kids," he said, introducing the story, "we must get away from their mothers at birth and dads."
The speaker, C. J. Huff, said during his first year as superintendent of the Joplin R-8 School District, "I had a third grade boy, great kid. His mom and dad were absent. I think His dad was in jail; his mom was always out partying. He was left in the care of his 'in quotes' aunt and uncle. That night, the aunt challenged him to a drinking contest. Jack Daniels."
Breaking into tears, Huff said, "He died in his sleep that night. It made headline in the paper, front page stuff. The aunt and uncle were convicted. Good kid, he was raising his brother and sister. He made a mistake, a fatal mistake."
Huff indicated that the story of the boy's death and the drinking game did not make much of a splash in Joplin. It was not even on the front page of the newspaper, he said. "Our community, even though it was in the paper one time did not know that story."
Huff said he felt he had to tell these kinds of stories to let people know what he and the people in the Joplin school district have to deal with every day.
If the boy had survived the drinking contest, Huff said, "if he had not died in his sleep, he would have been taking the state assessment test with a hangover."
Huff told the Wisconsin educators they had to tell the politicians the truth about what is happening with children.
During his one hour speech, Huff told the story of the May 22, 2011, Joplin Tornado, and how he was proud of "the team I have and my school board. I will take credit for hiring some great people," he added.
Huff also recounted the story of his promise, made two days after the tornado, that school would start on time in the Joplin R-8 School District. "I didn't ask my school board for permission," he said. "I just did it."
He then talked about the work that was done to arrange temporary schools for those whose buildings were destroyed by the tornado.
After opening his presentation with stories about the tornado, Huff talked about the difference Bright Futures has made in the Joplin Schools and how much the graduation rate has gone up since he arrived in 2008.
He ended the speech, saying that though he had once considered the first day of the 2011-2012 school year to be his greatest day as an educator, it had been replaced by one he had just lived through one week earlier- the opening of the new East Middle School, Irving Elementary School, and Soaring Heights Elementary School.
