Facilities in Focus: How Joplin School District Recovered After the 2011 Tornado

In this episode of Facilities in Focus, Dave Pettit discusses how the community came together after the devastating 2011 tornado.   February 5, 2025


By Mackenna Moralez, Associate Editor


 

In this episode Facilities in Focus, Mackenna Moralez speaks with Dave Pettit, director of facilities of Joplin Schools about the community’s journey of resiliency and recovery following the devastating 2011 tornado that ravished the town and killed 158 people. In the episode, Pettit reflects on the emotional and physical scars left behind and describes lessons that were learned in the aftermath of the natural disaster.   

“What defines us is not the tornado, but the resiliency of the human spirit,” Pettit says in the episode. “It's about how our community came together to rebuild—new schools, businesses, and lives. We can't choose what happens to us, but we can choose our response, and I couldn't be prouder of Joplin for how we overcame.”  

The Facilities in Focus podcast will publish bi-weekly episodes. The first season will cover emergency preparedness.  

For comments, or if you would like to be a guest on Facilities in Focus, please email fnpodcast@tradepress.com 

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