JOPLIN, Mo. – It was one hour after the nation’s deadliest tornado in six decades touched down and Bruce Vonder Haar had to see for himself if it was all true.

The then-Joplin High School softball coach and now assistant athletic director was seven miles north of town, near the airport, and safe. But like everyone in the region, his cell phone wasn't able to make calls. Power and communication were spotty. Unconfirmed reports of death and destruction were running rampant.
 
He was being bombarded with text messages from out-of-town loved ones, watching far and wide from their televisions. One text read that the city’s hospital, St. John’s Regional Medical Center, was gutted. The local Home Depot was demolished. And then this from a pal in Pennsylvania: “You lost your high school.”

Vonder Haar hopped into his 1998 Toyota Camry and drove straight through the war zone.

“Me and about a thousand others,” he said. “I couldn’t get anywhere. There was chaos and traffic and downed trees and debris everywhere. I finally just had to park my car about a mile-and-a-half from the high school and I started to run toward it.”

No distance runner, the 40-year-old jogged on adrenaline and fear alone.

“It was a 10-minute window of my life I’ll never forget. I saw things I never imagined,” he said. “There were homes destroyed in every direction. Cars turned over. People everywhere, rummaging through piles of rubble looking for possessions and who knows what else.”

Vonder Haar began to think about all his students and co-workers and friends. How many of them were in the line of this horrific EF-5 twister - the strongest rating possible - that spread three-quarters of a mile wide and 22 miles long? How many were blasted by the tornado that took 161 lives, injured more than 900 others and destroyed at least 8,000 homes, 18,000 cars and 450 businesses? 

His pace quickened. His emotions heightened.

“The entire run was absolutely surreal,” he said. “It was like I couldn’t actually believe what I was seeing, what was happening.”

When he finally arrived at 20th and Indiana streets, ground zero of the storm where the high school had stood for more than 50 years, Vonder Haar's eyes glazed over. He blinked hard several times.

“The destruction was so great to the school, I didn’t even know what I was looking at,” he said. “I kept looking back and forth, back and around to see if I was actually at the right spot.”

At that moment, Vonder Haar had one predominant thought, one undoubtedly shared by not only the more than 2,200 students and faculty, but the 50,000 residents of a city whose motto is “Proud of our past. … Shaping our future.”

“I thought, ‘Now what?’” Vonder Haar said. “What do we do now? Where can we possibly go from here?”

On the eve of the one-year anniversary of the tornado, this is a story of how the student-athletes and faculty of Joplin High School worked their way swiftly to a spot few fathomed on that horrific day: A place of hope, resiliency and normalcy.

Led by a student body's spirit, an administration's push, a community's work ethic and the injection of prep sports, the Eagles not only landed on solid ground but they dared to take flight once more.

It didn't hurt to have the support of a compassionate nation.

“It’s unbelievable that we’ve made it this far,” Joplin senior softball and track standout Mariah Sanders said. “But it’s believable because of all the help we had.”

An ambitious start date of Aug. 17 for school, made by Joplin Superintendent of Schools C.J. Huff just two days after the tornado, set the pace for workers, the community and the students to follow.

A new temporary and innovative 90,000 square foot campus for upperclassmen – at the local Northpark Mall no less – was constructed by a group of Kansas City architects in 84 days to meet the start date. New MacBook laptops were loaned to each student.

Video by Todd Shurtleff/Edited by Bryce Escobar. Footage courtesy of Joplin Schools/Danny Craven. 

“At first I thought it was a weird concept – at a mall – and I didn’t think it had a chance to be done in time,” said senior three-sport athlete Kellie Stringer. “But it turned out to be an awesome facility, a great place to learn and grow.”

The athletic fields – though none remained on campus – gave students a place to escape, unwind and unfurl passion.

Through the efforts of athletic director Jeff Starkweather and Vonder Haar and the coaching staffs, the Eagles fielded teams in all 20 sports and played a regular schedule, a minor miracle considering the logistical roadblocks and hurdles.

“Sports brought back a sense of home for me, a place we all used to be,” senior track sprinter and football player Martez Wilson said. “We could just forget about our traumatic experiences and go somewhere to put your mind and heart into something else to work on.”

The tornado ripped the high school apart, but the Eagles say they have bonded closer, reached beyond their limits and created a school year they will cherish. 

“Before you might see someone in the halls and not say anything,” Joplin junior football and wrestling standout Danny Drouin said. “Now you ask how they’re doing and what is going on in their life. ... We may have lost our school and lost our facilities, but we didn’t lose our heart or desire to succeed.”

They've certainly had their share of attention. The football team played a benefit game at Arrowhead Stadium, home of the Kansas City Chiefs. The softball and baseball teams threw out first pitches at Busch Stadium, home of the defending World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals. A recent prom was sponsored by pop star Katy Perry.

And now today - the ultimate - President Barack Obama will deliver the commencement address at Joplin’s graduation at Missouri Southern State University's Leggett & Platt Athletic Center.

“How many schools can say that?” Wilson asked rhetorically.

At the graduation, a tribute is scheduled for two Joplin High students who perished in the tornado, senior Will Norton and freshman Lantz Hare. Norton, who had just graduated an hour before the tornado, was an accomplished film student who had secured a scholarship to a film school in Southern California. He was considered by many around campus as the school's "most likely to succeed."

The campus clearly had to overcome more than shattered buildings. A statement released from the White House said in part that “Joplin's resilience and selflessness in the face of tragedy continues to inspire our nation.”

On Tuesday, more than 5,000 residents and Missouri Governor Jay Nixon are expected to break ground on a new $90-million state-of-the-art high school where rubble from the demolished school now sits. The opening of that school is scheduled for August, 2014.

“(Tuesday) will be a very emotional day,” Starkweather said. “It’s been a very long year but a remarkable one.”

One, Wilson said, that has actually uplifted his life.

“I try to live by the saying that God is going to throw obstacles in your way but it’s up to you to overcome them,” he said. “I feel like that’s what we’ve done. We’ve overcome this giant obstacle and now we’re stronger than ever.”

The stories about the storm itself, the panicked aftermath and the recovery over the next 12 months all differ greatly. But there are common themes in each.

Here are eight stories of strength from the Joplin athletic department.
The calm after the storm – Jeff Starkweather

A bucket of balls, no place to practice and no uniforms. That’s what most of the Joplin coaches were left with following the tornado. And somehow athletic director Jeff Starkweather was supposed to make it all work.

He was the perfect man for the job.

In stark contrast to the tornado itself, the 48-year-old was a rock of stability: Unruffled and in control, he was the calm after the storm the Eagles and their coaching staff needed.

“We always felt we’d be OK with Jeff in charge,” football coach Chris Shields said. “He has a very calming influence, yet gets things done. I can’t imagine what his summer must have been like last year.

“He had to figure out where everyone was playing, everyone was practicing and replace all the equipment and uniforms for about 20 sports. He was basically starting a new athletic program. In a span of two months.

“I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.”

But for Starkweather it’s been a matter of pride and a labor of love. He was raised in the city and is a 1982 Joplin-Parkwood graduate (the two schools used to be combined). He was a former basketball star and coach at the school and his parents Jeff and Linda, along with older brother Rick, still live in town.

“I’ve had a lot of good times here,” he said. “I still have lifelong friends who went to high school here and are still my best friends today. This has a special place in my heart.”

That’s partially why he got choked up thinking about the trials and tribulations of the past year. Not because he hasn’t had a day off since the tornado or the fact his brother lost his home and Chick-Fil-A business (the business is restored and flourishing). The daily stress of fixing and repairing the athletic program didn’t show on Starkweather either.

His emotions got riled when thinking about what he called “the human spirit.” The outpouring of love, donations, uniforms, equipment, swag and just plain hard labor is at times too much for Starkweather to take.

“It gives me goosebumps even thinking about it,” he said. “People have been phenomenal, there’s no other word for it. They really stepped up. When we needed help, they were here. That was huge for us.”

And in some ways, that makes Starkweather feel “horrible.”

“I feel horrible because I haven’t gotten all the thank-you notes written I should,” he said.

That might take another year.

* The football team at the University of Arkansas sent a contingent of players to help with the clean-up. So did athletes from the University of Missouri and virtually every other college in the Four State Area (Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas and Oklahoma). 

* Professional teams the Chiefs, Rams, Royals and Cardinals also offered physical, emotional and financial support, as did NASCAR driver and former Joplin High student Jamie McMurray.

* Joplin softball players Mariah Sanders and Danielle Campbell got to throw out the first pitch at a Royals-Cardinals game.

* The next night in St. Louis, 18 Joplin baseball players took the field at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. The Major Leaguers wore Joplin caps they eventually signed and those were raffled off.

* The Missouri Basketball Coaches Association, through a Nike representative, donated a set of boys and girls uniforms.

* Local schools have donated invaluable weights, uniforms and equipment from already dwindling resources.

* Starkweather received an envelope with $150 from a youth who worked a lemonade stand. 

* A boy in Kansas City put on a wiffleball tournament and raised more than $1,000.

The list of do-gooders, small and large, has been endless and overwhelming, Starkweather said.

“The human spirit is alive and well,” he said. “Not just in the Four State Area, but everywhere. All over the country. It’s been amazing. Truly amazing.”

Which describes the job Starkweather has done, said former softball coach and current assistant athletic director Bruce Vonder Haar.

“He stood up and was a leader for all the coaches,” he said. “He laid out a plan to first make sure the kids are OK. Then to find them a place to play and practice. He made sure the kids were going to have as normal an athletic season as possible.

“I commend him because he didn’t take a day off all summer. He still hasn’t had a day off. He doesn’t want a lot of recognition but he deserves it.”


The Great Escape – Kellie Stringer
Kellie Stringer is a natural athlete. She's tall (5-foot-9), strong and relentless.

A three-sport standout (volleyball, basketball and soccer), she decided to give swimming a splash her senior season and picked up a 12th varsity letter.

“Athletics are kind of my life,” said the 18-year-old senior.

Said assistant athletic director Bruce Vonder Haar: “She's one of our best athletes in school, boy or girl. She's good at every sport she played.”

Instinctive also, on and off the court: A couple of decisive moves in her Toyota 4-Runner during last year's tornado undoubtedly saved her life.

She left Joplin's graduation at Missouri Southern State University and headed home, but took an ill-advised route to 7th and Ridgeline Road, where she waited at an intersection. Unbeknownst to her, she was headed straight for the eye of the EF-5 monster.

“I actually really like storms so I was thinking, 'Oh cool, storm chasing,'” Stringer said. “But then suddenly I was in the middle of a black cloud and I'm thinking, ‘This is not cool.'”

Not cool at all.

The next 10 minutes of Stringer's life were a horror movie, though she retells it with an unusual sense of cool and calm and borderline giddiness, almost as if she escaped fate.

“All the air was being sucked out of my car,” she said. “I felt like it was compressing. Debris was hitting it. It was all black. So I quickly took a right and hit the sidewalk. I couldn't really see.”

She could see the red car and driver right next to her.

“I saw it get pulled into the air and into the tornado and I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, what did I just see.' I knew I had to get out of that situation, so I pulled a fast u-turn. I felt like I couldn't breathe.”

She sped down the road at approximately 70 mph, virtually blinded by the debris.

“I was scared I was going to hit someone but I had to just keep on going,” she said.

Stringer knew she likely couldn't outrace the tornado, so she sought a building, a structure, some place to find shelter. She was able to make out a Conoco gasoline sign and whipped into the parking lot.

One huge problem. Just as she turned off the ignition, the huge Conoco sign blew on top of the car and trapped her inside.

“The whole left side was bashed in and I couldn't get out,” she said. “I tried the right side, but I would have been just taken away. So at that point, I just kind of freaked out. I waited for just the right moment, I prayed, and then I went for it. I somehow opened just the right door and sprinted inside the Conoco and I was fine. ... But it was kind of a bad experience.”

Stringer said she's sought no counseling from the ordeal, even though it was offered throughout the school year through both FEMA and Healing Joplin, a local behavioral health service. More than 40 percent of Joplin students sought and received help, according to multiple sources.

“I'm a pretty strong person,” she said. “I really didn't need to let anything out. To be honest, I healed by just trying to help others really. I didn't get hurt so there was no real reason I should feel sad for myself.”

That kind of response didn't surprise Vonder Haar, who called Stringer a natural leader, extremely hard worker and extremely personable. He said her quick and decisive actions in the Toyota mirrored her reactions on the field. Her speed and strength helped her mad dash into the Conoco station as well.

“She didn't panic in that spot which is pretty amazing,” Vonder Haar said. “I think most of us might just close our eyes in the spot and hope for the best. She kept her composure and did the right thing.”

Even after reaching shelter. The first thing she did was call her father and mother, Bob and Debbie. She did so not so much to let them know she was OK, but to find out their status.

“The best phone call I've ever got in my life,” Bob said.

Said Vonder Haar: “That's the kind of unbelievable perspective Kellie has. Even in a moment like that, when her life is in peril, she's thinking about others. Her teachers tell me that's how she is in everyday life. The people she's closest to, she truly cares about and puts herself second.”

Her parents attended Senior Soccer Night on May 9 when she scored a goal from 30 yards out in a 2-0 win over crosstown rival McAuley. It was the last athletic hurrah in a superb prep career. She'll attend the University of Arkansas next fall and focus on biology or medicine, like her dad, who is an orthopedic surgeon.

As far as her senior athletic year, she said she was just grateful to have one. Ditto for the new facility at the mall and the laptops that were donated. She took none of it for granted, instead giving back to the community in the massive clean-up drive.

“I'm proud of all my classmates and all the volunteering we all did to make our town better. It was both fun and hard. It was a lot of work, but considering all that people gave to us it was only right. It was awesome.”

But not every day was awesome for Stringer. Until she recalled her escape from the EF-5.

“Of course we were sad some days because at least temporarily our town and school were taken away from us,” she said. “But I focused on what I didn't lose and am just happy to be alive every day because you don't know when it could be your last.”
Father (principal) and son (QB) – The Sachettas

Joplin junior quarterback Gabe Sachetta faked an inside handoff, stepped outside and for the next 10 seconds all the weight from his father’s heavily-burdened shoulders were lifted.

Sachetta broke loose on the second play of the game for an 80-yard touchdown run in a 42-27 loss to Raymore-Peculiar on Oct. 22. The touchdown eventually proved unimportant in the defeat.

But the place – at Kansas City’s Arrowhead Stadium – was vital.

Sachetta’s father is Joplin High Principal Kerry Sachetta, a man whose duties likely doubled following the EF-5 tornado destroyed one-third of Joplin, including the high school, on May 22, 2011.

Watching his boy sprint down the same field that featured Willie Lanier, Len Dawson, Priest Holmes and for a short stint, Joe Montana – both father and son’s favorite player – was exhilarating.

“Two parents couldn’t be prouder of a son,” Kerry said.

Gabe couldn’t hide his excitement either. Even seven months later.

The game was set up at Arrowhead by the Chiefs to benefit the Joplin Schools Tornado Relief Fund, making it even more meaningful.

“To cross the goal line and see your own face on the scoreboard is really cool,” Gabe said. “I have to give it up for the coaching staff. I’m not the fastest guy so that had to be the biggest hole in the world for me to run that far for a touchdown.”

The father and son have always been very close and shared a love for sports. Kerry, also a high school quarterback who still looks in game shape, remembers the first time holding his son’s hand when Gabe was 6 at the Joplin campus. That’s why Kerry’s passion to rebuild quickly – to make the high school experience special for these kids – is not only professional, but also personal.

“I know losing your high school is a big deal,” Kerry said. “I remember Gabe telling me shortly after the tornado he didn’t know what he was going to do without a high school.

“I think with that comment and a lot of help from a lot of people, getting the high school up and running was really a labor of love.”

Still, Kerry had his own visions and nightmares.

He stayed late well past the 2011 graduation at Missouri Southern State and was well clear of the storm. Gabe was not, working at a convenience store near St. John’s Medical Regional Center, which was destroyed. He gained cover in a freezer locker and escaped unscathed.

“I was quite worried,” Kerry said. “But we got very lucky.”

He didn’t feel quite lucky when he arrived at the high school an hour later. The school had scattered destruction, but Franklin Tech, a 7,500 square foot building that served as a career center just across the street, was obliterated.

Kerry couldn’t stop staring at it.

“I kept looking and thinking what was left was the green house behind it,” he said. “I literally honest to God kept thinking it was the green house. Once I realized it was not, it looked like a bomb had gone off in the middle of it, or a crater or a meteor.

“I was totally disoriented. … But the closer I go,t the damage was indescribable.”

The baseball field was the most unusual, as thousands of pieces of wood stuck through the turf.

“It was like the Robin Hood days, like pieces of wood just must have rained down. Eerie.”

Watching his dad stick his nose to the grindstone was inspirational and also difficult, Gabe said. Already a hard worker, Kerry’s duties to find new facilities and deal with all the physical and emotional damage was enormous. The summer, normally a time for Kerry to unwind, was wound tighter than ever.

Kerry said one of his largest goals was to simply minimize all the turmoil for all the parents, who all had monumental challenges of their own.

“It’s been amazing watching my dad,” Gabe said. “I’m not trying to toot his horn because I’m his son, but seriously he’s done a great job during a really tough time. “

Kerry actually sought his son’s advice on several post-tornado adjustments. Who would know better than an 11th grader, right?

“I think he’s given good, fair advice,” Kerry said. “He’s been a big help.”

And a vital player for football coach Chris Shields and the Eagles. The first-year head coach made him the starter before he even knew he was related to the school’s principal. That’s a tough stigma to beat, Shields said.

“Some people will always believe Gabe got the starting job because he’s the principal's son, but we know what’s the truth,” Shields said. “He stepped right up to the forefront from Day 1 last year and hasn’t relinquished the spot since. He’s just a very hard-working kid with a good command of the offense.”

Funny, because as a sixth-man on the basketball team, Gabe is the defensive stopper who picks up a lot of loose balls.

“He’s a high energy guy and a real leader wherever he plays,” Shields said.

Sounds like a lot like dad.

Hammering away – Mariah Sanders
Mariah Sanders swung a mighty bat this season for Joplin’s softball team and hit a team-best .438. She struck out once in 80 at-bats.

The multi-talented senior also sprinted strongly down a runway carrying a 12-foot pole to win the Ozark Conference pole vault championship earlier this month with a mark of 10 feet, 6 inches.

But all of it pales in comparison to what Sanders can do with a hammer.

The senior who graduates tonight helped rebuild her family’s home that was demolished in last year’s EF-5 tornado. Sanders, whose harrowing tornado-day story hit national media markets last May, often hammered nails on the roof past midnight over the summer and fall with her dad Fred.

“We’d sometimes make some real late-night runs to Lowes at 9 or 10,” Mariah said. “Then we’d just get on a roll until midnight or 1. It was cooler at night and easier to do.”

But there’s nothing easy about building your own home, even with 14-year-old sister Miranda and mom Angela helping out.  Mariah said the house is in the later “painting stages” and should be completed soon.

The Sanders family is not alone. According to reports, building reports have been issued for almost 70 percent of the destroyed homes in Joplin.

“You don’t realize all the work that goes into making a house until you have to do it,” Mariah said. “When I see construction workers now, I want to get out of my car and say 'Thank you.'”

Mariah is the polite and courteous type, said former softball coach and now assistant athletic director Bruce Vonder Haar.

“Never heard her complain once about having to do all the extra work or going the late hours,” Vonder Haar said. “You’d never hear how tired she was or what she had to go through. She just loves her family and is supportive in every way.”

Especially after she almost lost them in the tornado.

Mariah was with a friend in Seneca, 20 miles away, while her family was huddled in a closet, bracing for the nation’s deadliest tornado since 1947. She didn’t realize how strong the twister was until she received multiple texts, one from Miranda that said: MARIAH TORNADO HIT US AND EVERYTHING’S GONE.

Mariah spent the next 24 hours frantically trying to get home to reconnect with her family. Nobody was allowed into Joplin but Mariah found a way and eventually found her family.

“Honestly, those 24 hours I was pretty much crying,” she said. “You were in so much shock. You don’t know what to think. You had no idea what you’re going to do or how life was going to be. You didn’t know if your friends were OK, your coaches. So much goes through your mind. You are just in shock.

“It was the worst feeling ever.”

Needless to say, she doesn’t want to ever let go of her family again. No matter how challenging it is building a home together.

“We can’t always have happy moments together,” Mariah said. “We fight sometimes like all families. When everyone is busy and struggling with everything it’s hard. Everyone is working their butts off.”

Fred works full-time at a body shop and Angela works full-time in a behavioral health center. Miranda is a full-time student and traveling softball player and coached by her dad. Mariah is getting ready to go to college. She graduates tonight in what promises to be an emotional ceremony.

“Considering what we all went through it’s going to be harder to leave each other,” Mariah said. “A year ago we were just saying how happy we are to be alive. Now we’re all leaving. It’s hard.”

Mariah still counts her blessings for all the support Joplin received in the aftermath of catastrophe.

“It’s unbelievable we’ve made it this far,” she said. “But it’s believable because of all the help we had.” 
Football coach committed – Chris Shields
Chris Shields said it was a calling. He wasn’t even looking for a job. But there on the Internet in December of 2010 was a posting for the head football coach position at Joplin High School.

Shields, the head coach at Holt (Wentzville, Mo.) for five seasons, had grown up in a small town nearby in southeast Kansas and considered Joplin a big city.

“I always felt Joplin was a sleeping giant,” he said. “And frankly, this was a chance to be closer to home and to coach at a 6A school. This was a job with lots of potential.”

Shields and his wife had just built a house in Wentzville, a suburb of St. Louis. He just needed her blessing to apply. When she said yes, all signs were a go. When he won over Joplin’s administration and got the job in March of 2011, the calling seemed complete.

But then the twister seemed to destroy all that. Or did it?

Instead of staying put in Wentzville, Shields kept his commitment and led Joplin’s charge in 2011-12. The team won only three games – and lost eight – but by all accounts he was Coach of the Year material.

“He was the right guy at the right time for us,” Joplin athletic director Jeff Starkweather said. “He kept our guys united and on task and focused. He cared about the kids and frankly that was the most important thing.”

Senior 5-foot-8, 183-pound linebacker Michael Queen said football practice and time with his teammates was the best part of his day. His family missed the tornado by six houses, he said, and felt a great deal of survivor’s guilt all year. A church right across his street was hit.

“You just kind of wonder why it wasn’t you,” Queen said.

He got away from all those questions at football practice.

“Football was a huge distraction,” he said. “Instead of seeing destruction every day you were at football practice among friends. You were a kid again and didn’t have to grow up so fast.”

Shields, 36, said his calling for Joplin was even stronger after the tornado. Even though he and assistants Ethan Place and Brandon Taute – also brought down from Holt - all lost their rental homes.

The trio made the five-hour drive to Joplin the day after the tornado to help with the relief effort. They’ve been 100 percent Eagles ever since.

“It was just a one-day-at-a-time process for all of us,” Shields said. “If you stop and think how much has to be done you can go crazy. The best way I know of doing this is put your head down, do what you have to do next and then do what’s next on the list after that.”

Besides, he couldn’t possibly turn his back on kids like Quinton Anderson, Danny Drouin and Austin Barnett.

Anderson lost both of his parents in the tornado and he was feared dead as well after he was missing for three days. He had fractured his skull, broken his back and shattered an eye socket.

He couldn’t possibly play but he attended practices and games, and teammates named him a co-captain.

"I'm one of those people that doesn't cry when people are around, so when I was alone at nights, I would cry," he told CBS news reporter Ben Tracy. "It was just kind of the realization, like, I'm an orphan now, and I have my sister.

"I miss my mom's smile and I miss my dad's goofy laugh. They were kind of a goofy couple, but they loved each other."

Said Shields: "Some of the things these boys have been through is more than any kid should have to go through."

Like Barnett. Not only did his family lose their home in the tornado but so did the homes of three other family members in town. What are the odds?

“We now live way out in the boonies,” Barnett said. “But thankfully we still all have each other. That’s all that really matters.”

The 5-10, 185-pound junior and his family were forced to move into southeast Kansas. Shields said somehow Barnett hasn’t missed even a workout. A special-teams standout last season, he’s improving rapidly and is in line to be a starting linebacker next season.

“Great kid, great motor,” Shields said. “You’d never know what’s been thrown at this kid. He’s just like our program. One day at a time. Full speed ahead.”

Drouin, the school’s top wrestler as well, was also dealt a severe blow last year. Ten days after the tornado, his father Alden “Skip” Drouin passed away peacefully on his 65th birthday.

Skip, a former principal at Joplin and hugely popular figure in the community, had suffered from failing health before the tornado. The national disaster seemed to speed up the inevitable.

Drouin, a 6-foot-1, 250-pound starting offensive guard, said his father’s connection to the Eagles was indelible. He absolutely loved Joplin High School athletics.

“I grew up the same way,” Drouin said. “And now I have a chance to participate as a Joplin Eagle on Friday nights and on the mat. It’s really exciting to me. I embrace every opportunity.”

Shields said Drouin is an unequivocal leader for the team, both in action and words.

“He does a great job for us,” Shields said. “He’s a great ambassador of our team who promotes our school and the game. He’s definitely a vocal leader and on the field he loves to get down and dirty.”

Drouin said classmates have undoubtedly become closer since the tornado.

“Before you might see someone in the halls and not say anything,” he said. “Now you ask how they’re doing and what is going on in their life.

“We may have lost our school and lost our facilities, but we didn’t lose our heart or desire to succeed. That’s all that matters.”

Without the newness of last season and all the scrambling to find footing, Shields is certain the Eagles will not repeat last year’s record. The team has been conditioning all spring, including workouts starting at 6 a.m.

“Three wins is never acceptable and we were disappointed in our record last year to say the least,” Shields said. “But at the same time I felt good about the progress and foundation that was laid. I’m definitely excited about the future of Joplin football.”

Grace under fire – Danielle Campbell

Danielle Campbell was the perfect teammate, said her softball coach Bruce Vonder Haar. In or out of the lineup, the senior outfielder was always up on the bench rooting for teammates.

And when Vonder Haar asked her to switch to slap hitting this season, to utilize her superb speed, Campbell didn't budge.

“Easy to coach,” he said. “Always has a smile on her face. You wish you could have every team member like Danielle Campbell.”

Her altruistic manner was never better displayed than when her life was in peril the day of the tornado.

Sitting on the family couch with her sister, doing homework, Campbell heard the sirens signaling a twister approaching. That's not a big deal around these parts. Locals are almost immune to the sound, like a fire alarm at school.

“But then our power went out,” Campbell said. “And then I could hear the train sounds.”

Not a real train. The sounds of a fast-approaching EF-5 tornado that hasn't yet touched down have been compared to an approaching train that is pulling up a grade with six or so engines pulling in tandem. There's also a pulsating low frequency sound that can be felt in one's chest, like big bass speakers from a car.

Campbell knew and felt something big was about to happen and wrangled up her sister, her mom, who was cooking in the kitchen, and the family's dog.

“We didn't have time to go down to our basement, so we all huddled in the closet,” she said.

At that point, Campbell can hear every sound and recall every thought.

“The trees start to shake real loud and the wind just screams,” she said. “Trees start breaking and glass starts shattering. My mom says it's a major tornado and we need to start praying.

“Our whole house started to shake. A few moments later we can hear our ceiling being torn off. Everything started collapsing. At this point I'm thinking I'm going to die and I'm expecting for everything to go black and to experience some sort of sharp pain.”

Campbell said she began to pray her hardest at that point, but it's what she prayed for that resonates in Vonder Haar's description.

“I'm just praying that it's me and not my sister or mom because my sister is just going to be a freshman this year and she has further to go than me. I'm really hoping my mother doesn't get hurt or anything because my sister needs my mom.”

Fortunately, all the Campbells survived, but neighbors literally had to pull the trio from the only thing left standing.

“I just remember seeing devastation everywhere,” Campbell said.

Campbell admits she was traumatized by the experience, but softball and being on a team helped heal her emotional wounds. Though she wishes her near-death experience on nobody, she has learned a great deal from it.

“First off, material possessions aren't important at all,” she said. “All that matters is family. You realize that you have to continue on, that you can't lay down and give up once something bad happens. You have to keep pushing.”

She admits feeling panicky when storms and thunder shake the Joplin area now. She'll wake in the middle of the night and check the weather station for updates.

“I get shaky and I don't like it,” she said. “I realize to a point it controls my life right now. But I'll eventually get over it. You realize that everything gets better.”

Though Vonder Haar credits Campbell for being such a giver, the 18-year-old says coaches and teachers were some of the biggest heroes in the tragedy.

“A lot of them lost their homes or church and certainly place of work as well,” she said. “Even though they did, they dropped everything they had to deal with and help us. That was pretty amazing.”

As were volunteer medical people, who on the spot worked on the nearly 1,000 injured residents of Joplin. Campbell said those medics have inspired her to attend medical school eventually.

“I saw what those people did and the impact they made and I want to do that with my life,” she said. “I want to impact people in a positive way, especially if they've experienced the worst thing ever.”
Paying tribute – Holly O’Dell
Holly O'Dell always thought about getting a tattoo and she finally found the inspiration to get one.

The Joplin High School basketball and track and field standout waited for her 18th birthday to pay tribute to her grandmother Vicki Robertson, 66, who perished from injuries sustained in the EF-5 tornado last year.

“When I was little and I was down about something, she always picked me up,” O’Dell said. “She gave me candy or did something nice to make me happy.”

To honor her, O’Dell had a tattoo etched on her left shoulder with Robertson’s birth date, the day she died, a picture and a pair of red ballet slippers.

O’Dell never knew, but her grandmother practiced ballet as a youth.

“They were red because red stands for love,” she said. “She was a very strong woman. I hope to be like her someday. She always stepped up to the plate.”

O’Dell shows her grandmother’s strength already both as an athlete and volunteer. She finished second in the Ozark Conference pole vault at 10-0 behind teammate Mariah Sanders (10-6). 

Since the tornado, O’Dell signed up with army services to help clean up the debris and rubble left behind.

“It’s pretty memorable to help other people in a time of need,” O’Dell said. “To see them smile for just a second while they pick up their lives made me feel good. It’s amazing that they can smile through all that.”

She plans to attend college in Springfield, Mo., but won’t forget her senior year or classmates.

“It’s exciting but at the same time I don’t want to leave,” she said. “It’s kind of sad to leave all my friends and all the things we’ve been through. At the same time I’m excited to share the story of our town with other people.”
Tracking hope – Wilson, Clemons and Waltz

Photo by Todd Shurtleff

Students from the 11th and 12th grades are attending classes in a temporary campus that has been established in a mall.

Martez Wilson is something of a throwback. The senior track and field sprinter was born and raised in Joplin and doesn't hide his affection for the slow-moving Midwestern town.

“I just love the place,” he said. “It's quiet. It's nice. It's a good place to raise kids. It brings you back to a simpler time in a modern world. We're just nice town folks.”

That's why seeing one-third of the city destroyed by a tornado a year ago was so devastating. He was so depressed, he left the football team after less than a month of practices.

“Seeing all the places I used to go as a kid destroyed was really hard,” he said. “And I had to drive by the old high school every day and all the rubble. It made me not even want to go to the new school.”

Part of the resentment was derived from his own experience the day of the twister.

He and most of his family were safe, except for his brother Dion, who had rented a place with friends right in the danger zone. The living quarters were right next to Dillons Pharmacy, which was levelled by the tornado.

“It took us two hours to get to his place and when we saw Dillons destroyed, we thought the worst,” Wilson said. “The foundation of our family was shook completely.”

Two days later, Dion was found, but he had his own war stories. He'd been out simply helping people escape the wreckage, but not all attempts were successful. Watching death is never easy.

Neither is hearing people scream in pain, which is what Wilson's track teammate Lucas Waltz witnessed in the aftermath of the tornado. The senior pole vaulter helped many families dig out of the ruins, but it was a haunting memory.

“I remember a lot of people crying,” Waltz said. “Their whole lives were just out on the road. As soon as you were done helping one person, there was another yelling for help. You just tried to do what you could, but knowing they lost their whole life was hard.”

Joplin senior 400-meter and relay runner Tolby Clemons said getting through the pain and early rubble was a state of mind and point of view.

Like the first time he saw the old high school just days after the tornado.

“I remember seeing a classroom I had that was completely demolished and it made me think, ‘What if we had school the day of the tornado?'” Clemons said. “And then I thought, ‘What if graduation was held at school that day and not the college?'”

The slow, steady progress of rebuilding in the town, a growing affection for the mall high school and the camaraderie built on the track team helped bring Wilson, Waltz and Clemons around. Wilson said his football coach Chris Shields and track coaches Kasey Pliler (head coach) and Dustin Dixon (sprint) were key in helping him regain a new spirit.

“They were my support group, my family away from home, my help, my everything,” he said. “If it wasn't for my coaches pushing me on, I'm not sure I would have made it.

“Sports alone take your mind off all the hurt and pain we went through. It's a place to forget the traumatic experience and go to a place to put your mind and heart into something else to work on.”

Wilson said his senior year turned out to be his favorite year because of the spirit his co-students showed and all the love and support from the administration, coaches and community. It's also been uplifting to see most of the city's businesses rebuilt as well - 446 of the 553 that were destroyed have reopened.

“It's completely amazing how far and fast we've come in one year,” he said. “I think us changing that sign to hope was one of the main things that really helped. We all had hope, we all had faith that we would rebuild and be stronger than we were before. That we would unite and make Joplin an even better place.”

And all that support and hard work has inspired Wilson to do far greater things after high school.

“I think of something big in science,” he said. “I want to make a giant difference in someone's life. I want maybe to be a chemist. I want to be the one who creates a cure for cancer. I know it's a long shot but I want to be someone who goes in the history books for someone who did something to help the world in a major way.”