Video- Weather Channel special focuses on Joplin Tornado, paranormal activity

A new program focusing on paranormal activity surrounding the May 22, 2011, Joplin Tornado, is scheduled to air 8 p.m. Monday and 1 a.m. Tuesday on the Weather Channel.

The program, an episode of The Weather Channel's Tornado Alley series is titled Twisted Believers and is described in a Carthage Press article:

The program features Joplin tornado survivor Emily Huddleston, then 14, who was badly injured while returning home from the Joplin High School graduation where her brother graduated.

Also featured in this program will be the Paranormal Science Lab, a Carthage-based group that investigates paranormal activity around the region, and Carthage Press Editor John Hacker, who co-authored two books about the tornado with former Press Editor Randy Turner.

In the episode, survivors of the Joplin tornado share their stories of divine intervention and paranormal activity after the tornado with the Paranormal Science Lab team.

Long delayed, first signing for Scars from the Tornado set for March 29

The long-delayed first signing for my book Scars from the Tornado: One Year at Joplin East Middle School, will be held 12 noon to 4 p.m. Saturday, March 29, at Vintage Stock on the Mall.

The book, which tells the story of Joplin East Middle School students' experiences with the May 22, 2011, tornado, and their first year in a warehouse school in a far corner of the school district, was published last March, but the first signing was never scheduled when Joplin R-8 Superintendent C. J. Huff and other upper-level administrators claimed first that I had not received permission from the parents of students who contributed to the book and then after I proved that I had, that I had not received permission from administration. (East Middle School Principal Bud Sexson was fully aware of the project and kept informed from the first, even praising the project during a meeting with PTO officers in May 2012. Both PTO officers testified during my hearing about Sexson's praise and comments, while Sexson testified he had never heard of the book until March 2013. I testified about a number of occasions when I had updated Sexson on the book, none of which he seemed to recall.)

A first signing for Scars was finally scheduled for December 1, but was postponed due to inclement weather.

The plan is to have many of the students who contributed to the book, most of whom are now Joplin High School students, attend and sign copies of the book. More information will be provided later.

New specials on 5:41, Let Teachers Teach, other Turner books

As of this morning, anyone who buys, or who has bought, a paperback copy of one of my most recent books from Amazon can buy an e-copy of that book for 99 cents.

The deal, which will continue for the foreseeable future, covers 5:41: Stories from the Joplin Tornado, Let Teachers Teach, No Child Left Alive, Scars from the Tornado, and Spirit of Hope: The Year After the Joplin Tornado.

The whistleblower letter I wrote three weeks before I was removed from the classroom

• 
  
• On the day before spring break in March 2013, following months of being leaned on by R-8 Administration about the contents of the Turner Report and shortly after East Middle School Principal Bud Sexson had begun asking questions about my book Scars from the Tornado, Sexson came into my classroom and said HR (Tina Smith) wanted my computer. He gave me no reason. I not only gave him the computer, but about 10 minutes after that, I took him another computer that I had used for school work. I had nothing to hide.
• I had heard enough horror stories about the way the Joplin R-8 School District Administration to know that this was not going to turn out well for me.Since it made no sense to go to Sexson, Assistant Superintendent Angie Besendorfer or Superintendent C. J. Huff with the information I had, I decided, after careful deliberation to send the information I had to a member of the Joplin R-8 Board of Education.
• In this message, dated and sent March 16, 2013, a full 23 days before I was removed from the classroom and escorted out of the building in full view of my students and my fellow teachers. I told my story.

5:41, Scars from the Tornado top Amazon list, more Joplin Tornado books coming

More books about the Joplin Tornado are being written on a regular basis, with at least three novels, two published and one scheduled to arrive in April.

Out of the 16 books featuring the Joplin Tornado that are out as either hardbacks or paperbacks on Amazon.com, the latest rankings are as follows:

1. 5:41: Stories from the Joplin Tornado, Randy Turner and John Hacker 377,378
2. Scars from the Tornado: One Year at Joplin East Middle School 417,518
3. Joplin 5:41, Kansas City Star 495,025
4. Miracle of the Human Spirit, Mark Rohr 798,011
5.Hindsight: Lessons Learned from the Joplin Tornado, Zac Rantz 1,001,182
6.32 Minutes in May, Joplin Globe 1,035,508

7. Using Social Media in Disaster Recovery: The Joplin Tornado and the Branson Tornado, David Burton, Genevieve Williams, Rebecca Williams 1,261,368
8. When the Sirens Were Silent, Mike Smith, 1,267,051
9. Singing Over Me, Danielle Stammer 1,396,984
10. When the Storm Passes, Julie Jett, 1,532,943
11.Out of the Wind: May 22, Joplin, Missouri, D. Ed Hoggatt, 1,672,317
12.Joplin, Missouri, Tornado of May 22, 2011, American Society of Civil Engineers 1,924,664
13.Spirit of Hope: The Year After the Joplin Tornado, Randy Turner and John Hacker, 2,034,859
14. 5/22: Stories of Survival, Stories of Faith, Scott Hettinger 2,100,836
15. Joplin Tornado House of Hope, Tim Bartow 2,235,586
16. Mayday in Joplin, Donald Clugston 4,204,404,

2013 in Review: The Books that Got Me Fired

(This post from April 2013 includes the audio of Joplin R-8 Human Resources Director Tina Smith's "interrogation" of me. Once the audio was released, my recording of the conversation for my own protection was added to the list of charges against me.)

(The following is my latest Huffington Post blog.)

Two weeks ago today, I walked out of my classroom for perhaps the last time.

It wasn’t anything I planned. Even when I wrote for Huffington Post a couple of weeks ago recommending that young people not become teachers, I never stopped loving my job. I never lost my enthusiasm for teaching eighth graders the finer points of writing.

My students are still in my classroom every day and will be until May 21.  I miss them greatly and hope, perhaps against all hope, that I will get a chance to be with them at least one more time before the school year ends.

That usually doesn’t happen, however, for teachers who have to be escorted from the school building by a police officer in full view of students who were boarding school buses to leave for the day.

2013 in Review: The Joplin School District's Charges Against Me

(From April 25, 2013, this post reveals the first set of charges the Joplin R-8 School District leveled at me. Of course, after I pretty much refuted all of those charges, they hit me with some more.) As most Turner Report readers are aware, I was removed from my classroom at Joplin East Middle School April 8, placed on paid administrative leave.

Last night, as I read over the 28-page list of charges against me, I grew both angry and depressed.

Finally, I began detailing the charges on my Facebook page.

I am going to take a different approach for this blog and simply repeat the way I reported it on Facebook last night and early this morning:

5:41: Stories from the Joplin Tornado still topping Amazon charts

Our book, 5:41: Stories from the Joplin Tornado, which has been the top Amazon performer among the dozen or so tornado books for the past two years (a couple of the books that were published early are no longer available except in electronic editions) is atop the rankings again this week.

1. 5:41: Stories from the Joplin Tornado, Randy Turner and John Hacker, 98,904
2. Joplin 5:41, Kansas City Star, 240,539
3. 32 Minutes in May, Joplin Globe 454,761
4. Scars from the Tornado, Randy Turner, 594,422
5. Singing Over Me, Danielle Stammer 883,186
6. Miracle of the Human Spirit, Mark Rohr 983,524
7. When the Storm Passes, Julie Jett 1,787,452
8. Spirit of Hope: The Year After the Joplin Tornado, Randy Turner and John Hacker 1,946,858
9. 5/22: Stories of Survival, Stories of Faith, Scott Hettinger 2,003,818
10. Joplin Tornado House of Hope, Tim Bartow 2,618,443
11. Mayday over Joplin, Donald Clugston 3,707,437

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A reminder that 5:41: Stories from the Joplin Tornado, Spirit of Hope, and Scars from the Tornado are available at discount prices and can be found at my Amazon Author Page.