Will You Please Help?

He had grown up in the small Wisconsin town, a man who carried on his family's farming tradition and served on the school board for 21 years. After two decades of farming, he decided to return to teaching and added Principal to his credentials. It was truly special to become a principal in the school from which he himself graduated. Described as compassionate and kind, a father of three, John also served as the school's Athletic Director and was being groomed for the Superintendent's job.

So, it was with excitement and enthusiasm that John Klang began the school year last fall; a school year filled with promise. Sadly, it was not to be. Principal John Klang was gunned down in the hallway by an emotionally disturbed student bent on revenge. Principal Klang was heralded as a hero that day; even after he was shot, he tackled the shooter and knocked the gun away, saving others from certain death.

Yesterday, I received an email forwarded from a colleague of John's at the Weston School District. She nominated John's family for the Extreme Makeover: Home Edition television program, and they are finalists. As hinted previously, the Klang family lives in a farmhouse which is 120 years old, is heated with wood, and is in bad need of repair. Committed to paying off the farm before making sorely-needed improvements, the Klangs wrote the final mortgage check shortly before John's death and were hoping to begin renovations in the future.

The Extreme Makeover folks will be making a decision this week. Will you please help by sending an email today to: castingwisconsin@gmail.com with "Vote for the Klang Family" in the subject line? That's all it takes to send a vote for John's family. The original email came directly from the Weston School District, and I've verified the email address is actually associated with the show. Thanks for taking a minute to do this; John's family deserves it.