For his herculean efforts to reopen schools buildings after five were destroyed by a May 22 tornado, Superintendent C.J. Huff has been honored as one of the top 2011 Heroes Among Us by People magazine.

Huff joins five other winners to be featured in the Nov. 7 issue.

Others include a judge who started a program for troubled youths, a man who rescues greyhounds and a group of strangers who rescued a college student from a burning vehicle.

(READ the story in the Joplin Globe)