T he costliest tornado in U.S. history descended without warning on the small community of Joplin, Missouri, USA,
on May 22, 2011. People across the
country watched the devastation on
Three thousand students lived in the
path of the storm, and 4,200 ended up
without a school to attend.
student-to-computer ratio districtwide
and had created a 21st Century Vision
team that included school staff, board
members, university representatives,
students, parents, and members of
the business community. This team
had visited many districts around the
United States to gather information
about forward-thinking philosophies
and digital age practices, taking detailed notes about the measure of
successes and disappointments these
schools had experienced.
TV and You Tube. But the thousands
of students and staff of Joplin School
District lived through it.
Although I lived outside the path
of destruction, thousands of others
were not so fortunate. Joplin Schools
lost seven students and one staff
member to the tornado. It also destroyed five schools and left several
others heavily damaged (see surveillance footage captured at East Middle
School during the tornado at www.
youtube.com/watch?v=64covicCcIY).
One of the places we visited before the
tornado was a one-to-one school, where
our high school leaders, administrators,
and school board members saw in action
STORM
Instead, we seized the opportunity to
become even better by implementing
a one-to-one initiative, complete with
a new all-digital curriculum.
the way things can change in this type
of learning environment.
Three weeks after the tornado, we
recognized the need to fast-forward
our plan. We held another visioning
meeting that included students, staff,
parents, and community members.
We also met with representatives from
Mid-Continent Research for Educa-
tion and Learning (McRel), Interna-
tional Center for Leadership in Educa-
tion (ICLE), Leadership & Learning,
and we video conferenced with such
industry leaders as Apple, HP, Dell,
and Intel while working out of tem-
porary housing facilities with limited
power and internet capability.
Everyone helped us put together
a powerful plan. We made more site
visits to schools across the nation
that were implementing innovative
programs. We visited schools that
closely followed third-party curricula,
Recognizing the need to restore
normalcy throughout the community,
Superintendent C.J. Huff steadfastly
committed to opening Joplin’s schools
by the originally scheduled 2011–12
school year start date of August 17. It
was a difficult feat by any means. But
what makes this story truly remarkable
is that, even with such an incredibly
short turnaround and long list of challenges, Joplin Schools did not simply
rebuild in the image of its former self.
ISTOCKPHOTO.COM/IAKOVKALININ
Joplin Schools did not simply rebuild in the image of its former
self. Instead, we seized the opportunity to become even better
by implementing a one-to-one initiative, complete with a new
all-digital curriculum.
such as the New Tech Network model
( www.newtechnetwork.org), as well
as schools that used other approaches,
such as career academies and design
thinking.
Even though time was short, we felt
the insight we gained on these visits
was invaluable. We cherry-picked the
components that we felt would align
best with the picture we were trying to
develop for Joplin.
In addition to going one to one, we
decided to adopt career pathways in
the design and construction of our
new high school and technology career
center. Students can earn a certification or associate’s degree while attending high school and continuing to
pursue extracurricular passions, such
as music, art, and athletics.
We decided to begin the one-to-one
initiative in the high school by the start
of the 2011–12 school year—a mere 55
days away. Stage 2, which we anticipate
beginning in 2013, will expand the
initiative to grades 6–8. We then plan
to take the program districtwide within
two years after finishing the middle
school implementation.
Visioning Before and After
Joplin Schools was already known as
a state leader among tech-savvy districts, with a focus on gains in student
engagement and academic achievement. Before the tornado, we had a 2: 1
Infrastructure, Tools, and Curriculum
Before we could do anything else, we
had to get the district’s network infrastructure back in working order.
The tornado had crushed fiber optics
throughout the city of Joplin, so we had
to rebuild. Our fiber provider worked
diligently day and night to restore districtwide internet functionality.
Our window was small to select the
device that would best fit our one-to-one initiative. We studied iPads and
other tablets as well as various laptop
models. Though all the devices had
positive features, we ultimately decided
on MacBooks. Joplin teachers have
used these machines for a number of
