by Randy Turner
Cara Marshall was an eighth grader during the 2011-2012 school year.
THE HALLOWEEN DANCE
BY JIMMIE WILLERTON
For those who missed the Halloween dance, it was a lot of fun. We had a DJ, concessions and even a king and queen.
Reluctantly, I was crowned king and Breanna Pace was crowned queen. In addition to the crown, we received gift cards and free concessions all night.
Over all, the Halloween dance was great, with lots of fellowship and fun.
Jimmie Willerton was an eighth grader during the 2011-2012 school year.
DANCING
BY AUDREY KANAN
I have had a lot of memorable moments this year. One is dancing. I just kind of let go at the first dance and my reputation changed.
It was a little embarrassing, but it was also an accomplishment because I am usually too shy to dance in front of people.
Another memorable moment was having my first kiss- it was the most awkward thing ever, but everyone said it was cute.
It was a pretty good year with moments I will never forget.
Audrey Kanan was an eighth grader during the 2011-2012 school year.
MAKING THE SQUAD
BY MADISON MEINHARDT
This weekend I was so excited because I found out I made the freshman cheerleading team. It was 11:30 at night before I got the e-mail. I actually put the wrong e-mail address down so my friend Annie had to call me and tell me who all made it. I was so happy to find out I did make it, but so disappointed that my best friend did not.
Madison Meinhardt was an eighth grader during the 2011-2012 school year.
MORE RESPONSIBILITIES
BY LOGAN WHITEHEAD
We only have a few months until high school and that can be good or bad. I am definitely looking forward to getting to meet new people and trying new things. I am not looking forward to the harder work, though. There will be more responsibilities and the pressure is harder.
We’ll see how it goes.
Logan Whitehead was an eighth grader during the 2011-2012 school year.
A BRAND-NEW SCHOOL
BY AMELIA STREET
The bond issue was voted on last night and it passed. That means we will have brand-new schools, instead of staying at the mall. That means I will graduate from a brand-new high school!
I can’t wait until high school.
Amelia Street was an eighth grader during the 2011-2012 school year.
NINTH GRADE, HERE I COME
BY TAELOR STONE
I have wanted to be in high school for as long as I can remember. I am looking forward to being a volleyball player for Joplin High School.
I am probably going to be scared because it is going to be a huge school. I am scared of getting lost. I am going to have to be at one side of the building on hour and then the next hour I will be on the opposite side of the building. I will have to find my classes and it will be very hard to get used to.
I can’t wait to get into high school with my friends. Ninth grade yearhere I come!!!
Taelor Stone was an eighth grader during the 2011-2012 school year.
A THANK YOU FROM ALL OF US AT EAST
BY RANDY TURNER
When the 2011-2012 school year started, the national media was naturally attracted to the spectacle of a mall high school. Our school district’s 11th and 12th Grade Center in the former Shopko department store at Northpark Mall was not only a ready-made news story, but it was also right in the middle of downtown Joplin.
The warehouse that we now call home is not in the center of Joplin. We are situated on the far eastern end of the school district. After an opening day visit by Gov. Jay Nixon, our time in the spotlight had ended.
But we were never forgotten.
While the mall high school became a media magnet, for obvious reasons, our school continued to receive the thoughts and prayers of the nation, something for which we are eternally grateful.
Donations were made through the Bright Futures program to East, and teachers were the recipients of thousands of books, supplies, and other donated items.
All of us have stories to tell about the generosity of people whom we had never met prior to May 22, 2011.
Two stories stood out to me and both of them began on the same day. I wrote about the first one in a Daily Kos diary. A seventh grader from New York City had read about Joplin Schools in posts I had written for my blog and decided she had to do something to help.
With the consent of officials at her middle school, the young lady began a book drive and collected more than 100 books for my classroom.
With all of the frenzy at the beginning of the school year, I did not open the box until a couple of months later and almost overlooked the young lady’s handwritten note at the bottom of the box. Her books hold a prominent place on my shelves and will continue to do so when he make the move to the new East Middle School several months from now.
On the same day I finally read the seventh grader’s letter, I found a letter addressed to me in the faculty mail room. The letter, written with immaculate penmanship came from an 86-year-old woman named Jane Brunet from Santa Barbara, Calif. It included a $25 check. Mrs. Brunet said she had read about what had happened to my school and wanted to do something to help my classroom. She apologized for sending so little, noting that she was living on a fixed income and told me she would send more when she received her next check.
As much as I appreciated the thought, I was not going to allow this wonderful woman to spend any more of her money on us. I put the $25 to good use, buying materials for our third quarter research project on the civil rights movement. After that, I had my students write thank-you letters, both to Jane Brunet and the seventh grader, who coincidentally also had the first name Jane.
In a personal message to Mrs. Brunet, I told her we did not need more money, but what we did want was to establish a pen pal relationship with her to help teach the students the value of writing letters.
Since that time, scarcely a week has gone by that we have not heard from Mrs. Brunet and her postcards, all featuring the scenic beauty of Santa Barbara, are always a hit with my students. We have shared holidays, school news, family news, and toward the end of 2012, we received a card in which Mrs. Brunet said she would be undergoing a heart procedure.
That worried us. A staple of the 2012-2013 school year has been receiving personalized postcards from Mrs. Brunet, who determined at the beginning of the year that she was going to write to each of the students who wrote her. We had received five or six such postcards when we heard about the impending surgery.
After Christmas, I found a thick envelope containing 25 postcards. Not only was Mrs. Brunet back to writing long, personalized messages to the students, but she shared that she had turned out to be in much better shape than originally thought, and the doctors had determined the surgery was not necessary.
Since that time, the postcards have continued to arrive. In the big scheme of things, it may not mean much, but to this teacher and to the students of East Middle School, one of the positive things that came out of the tornado was the knowledge that there were people out there who genuinely cared about us.
Every time we see that familiar handwriting accompanied by a postcard picture of Santa Barbara we receive that message all over again.
We may be situated in a far off the beaten path warehouse, far from civilization.
But we will never be alone.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
RANDY TURNER is an eighth grade English teacher at Joplin East Middle School and has taught in the Joplin School District for 10 years. Prior to becoming a teacher, he spent two decades as a newspaper reporter and editor. He is the co-author of 5:41: Stories from the Joplin Tornado and Spirit of Hope: The Year After the Joplin Tornado, and has written two other non-fiction books and three novels.
DON’T MISS THESE OTHER BOOKS BY RANDY TURNER
5:41: STORIES FROM THE JOPLIN TORNADO co-authored with John Hacker
DON’T MISS THESE OTHER BOOKS FROM DROP CAP PUBLISHING
TREASURE OF TRUTHS by Rebecca Haines
COMING SOON A SUMMER OF HEROES by Matthew C. Dyer
PRAISE FOR BOOKS BY RANDY TURNER 5:41: STORIES FROM THE JOPLIN TORNADO
“This is an outstanding book, it is a must read if you are from the area near Joplin. The stories presented are moving.”
“A true heartfelt journal of survivors and their stories. A true must for anyone that has been affected by this, survivors; family; or volunteers.”
SPIRIT OF HOPE: THE YEAR AFTER THE JOPLIN TORNADO
“There is masterful storytelling in these pages - the story of a city that endured crisis together.”
“A book well worth the time to read and keep on the shelf for future reference.”