Kerns to speak at Rotary Top 20 Banquet


Al Kerns, a longtime teacher and coach at Parkersburg and Aplington-Parkersburg Schools, will be the featured speaker at the Humboldt Rotary Club Top 20 Honors Banquet on May 5. Kerns is with the Ed Thomas Family Foundation.

The Humboldt Rotary Club will host the Rotary Top 20 Honors Banquet on Wednesday, May 5, at 6:15 p.m. at Zion Lutheran Church in Humboldt.
The banquet honors the top 20 academic seniors at Humboldt High School each year. Students and their parents are invited.
Featured speaker this year will be Al Kerns of the Ed Thomas Family Foundation.
Al Kerns began his teaching and coaching career in January of 1978 at Hudson for one semester. He then began teaching and coaching at Parkersburg. He continued his career as an educator with Parkersburg, and later, Aplington-Parkersburg Schools, until his retirement in 2014. He has kept in contact with young people through curriculum sales, speaking opportunities, the Ed Thomas Legacy Leadership Academy, and as an Instructional Coach at Aplington-Parkersburg.
During his teaching and coaching career, Al taught psychology, sociology, character and leadership, health, and elementary physical education. He coached football, girls’ track, and girls’ basketball. His girls’ track team won the state title in 2001 and finished as the state runner-up four times.
Al was a long-time assistant to the legendary coach, Ed Thomas, whose football program won multiple state titles and runner-ups. Al has had the opportunity to present to a wide variety of parents, educators and students over the years. His message relates to effective team building, character and leadership, and overcoming adversity.
A major part of Al’s inspiration comes from the perseverance the community of Parkersburg had to endure following an EF5 tornado in 2008 and an on-campus murder of his best friend, Coach Ed Thomas, in 2009.
A complete list and photos of the top 20 academic seniors will appear in the April 29 issue of the Humboldt Independent. This will be the 60th year Humboldt Rotary Club has honored the Top 20.

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