NYT: ‘After Tornado Destroys [Parkersburg] High School, Football Coach Tries to Save Season’

NYT: ‘After Tornado Destroys [Parkersburg] High School, Football Coach Tries to Save Season’ June 9, 2008

Posted by John in Education, Sports, Weather.
Tags: Aaron Kampman, Brad Meester, Casey Wiegmann, coaches, Ed Thomas, EF-5, football, high school football, Jan Thomas, Jared DeVries, K-12 Schools, Parkersburg (Iowa), tornadoes
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From New York Times:

Eight people died, and students from the school have helped dig their graves.

The tornado also wiped out Ed Thomas’s football program. And Ed Thomas is not the type of man to stand for that.

That is why, minutes after emerging with his wife, Jan, from beneath the basement steps to find their house on Conn Street and all the ones around it virtually erased from their foundations, Thomas walked — his two cars were destroyed, too — the few blocks to school. And he started to rebuild the past 33 years. …

Improbably, for a school of about 240 students, four former players are in the N.F.L.: defensive end Aaron Kampman of the Packers; defensive end Jared DeVries of the Lions; center Casey Wiegmann of the Broncos; and center Brad Meester of the Jaguars. …