Scars from the Tornado (13 page)

The change in location did not stop
seventh
grade reading teacher Linda
Weaver from having her annual
“50s Day” as students concluded reading S. E. Hinton’s classic, The Outsiders.

An important part of the first dance at the new East Middle
School building was having photos taken.

The JEMS Show Choir entertains during an assembly in the
school’s commons area.

East students learned about science, thanks to Pittsburg
State University students who staged a
Technolympics
for them.

At a time when most of the world was thinking about what it
could give to Joplin, East Middle School students raised money to help the
Joplin Fire Department provide toys for underprivileged children, an annual
activity spearheaded by the Student Council, under the direction of Mr. Rocky
Biggers
.

At a time when most of the world was thinking about what it
could give to Joplin, East Middle School students raised money to help the
Joplin Fire Department provide toys for underprivileged children, an annual
activity spearheaded by the Student Council, under the direction of Mr. Rocky
Biggers
.

At a time when most of the world was thinking about what it
could give to Joplin, East Middle School students raised money to help the
Joplin Fire Department provide toys for underprivileged children, an annual
activity spearheaded by the Student Council, under the direction of Mr. Rocky
Biggers
.

East Middle School after the tornado.

Seventh grade communication arts (English) teacher Angel
Mense
, complete with
hard hat
,
prepares to enter the building and look at her damaged classroom.

Damaged textbooks are shoveled into a dumpster as East
teachers and volunteers go through the building a week after the tornado.

As the 2011-2012 school year
ended, eighth graders Jennifer Nguyen,
Megan Hickey, and Alyssa
Wescoat
share
a
tearful moment, not because they had
spent their eighth grade year in
a warehouse school, but because the school
year ended much too soon.