Mark Norton continued describing some of the final moments he had with his son during the storm.

“As he was pulling over you know stopping the vehicle, I can remember him praying and reciting scripture,' Mark Norton told 41 Action News in 2016. IN 2016, Mark Norton sat down with 41 Action News and described getting caught in the tornado’s path with his son less than a minute from their home. “He was probably two to three blocks behind me on his way home with his dad,' Huff said. Of the 161 victims of the tornado, one worked at the district and seven were students including Will Norton who was 18. “I just remember telling her we lost hundreds if not thousands of people. Huff was the district's superintendent in 2011 and was caught in the tornado's path. “I’ll never forget when I drove up on the high school and saw it.”ĭr. “I started getting text messages that said the high school had been hit,” he said. In May 2011, he was the principal of Joplin High School and he had stayed after the ceremony which was held at a local university where he had to take cover. About five thousand people were at the ceremony,” Kerry Sachetta, assistant superintendent for operations of Joplin Schools said.

“I can remember all the weather alerts going off on our phone,” said Justin Crawford, who was a teacher at the time. Moments after a graduation ceremony in 2011, a devastating EF-5 tornado hit Joplin. “This will provide some normalcy,” he said as he gave a tour of the large, modern Joplin High School. Stephen Gilbreth, showed 41 Action News the spacious gym where this year’s gradation would be for 470 students. After a drive-thru graduation last year due to the pandemic, Joplin High School principal Dr.

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