Jenks Tribune Digital Issue 45 - June 19, 2020

JENKS NAMED TREE CITY USA MEMBER Jenks Public Schools To Have Two Graduations June 26 Jenks Football Doing Summer Pride A Little Different This Year FRIDAY, JUNE 19, 2020

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Jenks Becomes Tree City USA Member

By Kyle Salomon Following a long application process, the City of Jenks was recently designated a Tree City USA member.

Jenks City Manager Chris Shrout said he was excited to see the city receive the nomination at the end of February and he hopes the Jenks residents are excited about it as well.

“One of the biggest complaints we get from our citizens when new development is taking place is developers clear out the trees,” Shrout said. “We have been doing our best to try and show our citizens that yes, we welcome new development, but we do hear them related to cutting down our trees and we are trying our best to replace them all over town.”

The Jenks City Council has not been able to have an official announcement due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but plans are in place as soon as it is safe to have an announcement.

To meet this standard each year, the community must document at least $2 per capita toward the planting, care, and removal of city trees—and the planning efforts to make those things happen. At first this may seem like an impossible barrier to some communities.

However, a little investigation usually reveals that more than this amount is already being spent on tree care.

If not, this may signal serious neglect that will cost far more in the long run. In such a case, working toward Tree City USA recognition can be used to reexamine the community's budget priorities and redirect funds to properly care for its tree resources before it is too late.

Standard 4: An Arbor Day Observance and Proclamation An effective program for community trees would not be complete without an annual Arbor Day ceremony.

Citizens come together to celebrate the benefits of community trees and the work accomplished to plant and maintain them. By passing and reciting an official To become a Tree City USA, standards must be met.

Arbor Day proclamation, public officials demonstrate Here are the standards to become a Tree City USA: their support for the community tree program and complete the requirements for becoming a Tree City Standard 1: A Tree Board or Department USA! Someone must be legally responsible for the care of all This is the least challenging—and probably most trees on city- or town-owned property. By delegating enjoyable—standard to meet. An Arbor Day tree care decisions to a professional forester, arborist, celebration can be simple and brief or an all-day or city department, citizen-led tree board or some all-week observation. It can include a tree planting combination, city leaders determine who will perform event, tree care activities or an award ceremony that necessary tree work. The public will also know who honors leading tree planters. For children, Arbor Day is accountable for decisions that impact community may be their only exposure to the green world or a trees. Often, both professional staff and an advisory springboard to discussions about the complex issue of tree board are established, which is a good goal for environmental quality. most communities.

The formation of a tree board often stems from a The benefits of Arbor Day go far beyond the shade group of citizens. In some cases, a mayor or city and beauty of new trees for the next generation. officials have started the process. Either way, the Arbor Day is a golden opportunity for publicity and to benefits are immense. Involving residents and business educate homeowners about proper tree care. Utility owners creates wide awareness of what trees do for companies can join in to promote planting small trees the community and provides broad support for better beneath power lines or being careful when digging. tree care.

Fire prevention messaging can also be worked into the event, as can conservation education about soil Standard 2: A Tree Care Ordinance erosion or the need to protect wildlife habitat.

A public tree care ordinance forms the foundation of a Standard 4 was waived this year due to COVID-19. city’s tree care program. It provides an opportunity to set good policy and back it with the force of law when Other Tulsa metro cities that are members of Tree City necessary.

USA are: A key section of a qualifying ordinance is one that Bartlesville – 36 years establishes the tree board or forestry department—or Bixby – 22 years both—and gives one of them the responsibility for Broken Arron – 19 years public tree care (as reflected in Standard 1). It should Claremore – 34 years also assign the task of crafting and implementing a Tulsa – 26 years plan of work or for documenting annual tree care Jenks – 1 year activities.

Qualifying ordinances will also provide clear guidance for planting, maintaining and/or removing trees from streets, parks and other public spaces as well as activities that are required or prohibited.

Beyond that, the ordinance should be flexible enough to fit the needs and circumstances of the particular community.

Standard 3: A Community Forestry Program with an Annual Budget of at Least $2 Per Capita City trees provide many benefits—clean air, clean water, shade, and beauty to name a few—but they also require an investment to remain healthy and sustainable. By providing support at or above the $2 per capita minimum, a community demonstrates its commitment to grow and tend these valuable public assets. Budgets and expenditures require planning and accountability, which are fundamental to the long-term health of the tree canopy and the Tree City USA program.

FRIDAY, JUNE 19, 2020

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Jenks To Have Two Commencement Ceremonies, Gradfest And Prom Cancelled Submitted Jenks Public Schools announced Thursday it will have two separate traditional commencement ceremonies June 26 at the Mabee Center in Tulsa.

The first graduation ceremony will take place at 4 p.m. for Jenks High School 2020 seniors with last names that begin with A through K. The second ceremony will begin at 7:30 p.m. for those seniors with last names that begin with L through Z. Doors for the first ceremony will open at 3 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. for the second.

Both ceremonies will be streamed live on the Jenks Public Schools Facebook page and each graduate will be allowed to have four spectators in attendance.

There will be temperature checks for all spectators and graduates and six feet of separation between each seated graduate.

All graduates will be escorted to their seats as they arrive to the Mabee Center. There will be open rows between spectators with the unused rows from the first ceremony being the used rows for the second ceremony.

Families/households can be seated together, but there will be six feet of separation between them and other attending families.

Jenks Public Schools staff will be required to wear masks and graduates and audience are highly recommended to wear masks.

All seats, armrests and rails will be sanitized between ceremonies.

There will only be a rehearsal for graduates who are speaking at the commencement.

The two ceremonies are optional and according to Jenks Public Schools, more information on the two ceremonies will be released next week.

The two traditional commencement ceremonies follow the May 18 virtual graduation Jenks Public Schools held for its seniors.

GradFest, Prom cancelled Jenks Public Schools also announced Thursday that GradFest and Prom have been officially cancelled due to social distancing protocols. JPS also said more information is coming soon on how to get refunds for GradFest if you had already registered.

“We recognize the significance of these events, and we regret that circumstances preclude us from having some of them,” Jenks Public Schools released in a statement Thursday on social media.

“We look forward to seeing graduates at commencement and we wish all of you well as you prepare for the next chapter of your life.”

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Jenks Football Begins Summer Workouts

By Kyle Salomon

Jenks athletics opened Phase One Monday of its threephase process to re-opening Trojan sports.

The Oklahoma Secondary Schools Activities Association voted May 22 to open athletics immediately forcing athletic directors and superintendents across the state to put together plans for their respective schools to get sports going again in Oklahoma.

Jenks Public Schools announced last week its plan to re-open athletics with a phased-in approach. The Trojan football program did not waste any time in getting back on the gridiron with the start of its Summer Pride workouts.

However, this year’s version of Summer Pride looks a little different than in years past.

Jenks head football coach Keith Riggs said COVID-19 took him and his staff by surprise in mid-March when the pandemic hit Oklahoma.

“Our kids left for spring break and we really didn’t imagine we weren’t going to get to see them a week later,” Riggs said. “We did have to scramble a little bit when all that went down. We had to make sure we had good contact with all our kids and make sure we kept in touch with them.

It was a frantic first couple of weeks when school shut down. Our kids handled all of it much better than we did.

The big thing early on was reaching out to our kids and making sure they were doing alright.”

Riggs said he was a little surprised at the OSSAA vote that rejected the phased-in plan for all schools across the state.

“Our athletic director, Tony Dillingham, reached out to other athletic directors and superintendents and they met the next workday following the OSSAA vote and began discussions about what was best for all of our schools,” Riggs said. “While each school had the freedom to make their own decisions, most everybody’s plans going through the summer were very similar from both the Tulsa and Oklahoma City area schools. A lot of the plans that were put together was based on the proposal the OSSAA voted down. It didn’t take long to develop a plan and then it was just making sure we had the supplies we needed and the processes in place to take care of those restrictions.”

Typically, there are two groups in the Summer Pride workouts. There usually is a high school group and a middle school group. This year, there are four groups to help keep the numbers per group lower. The players come in on the west side of the Sharp Fitness Center, get their temperatures taken and fill out a health checklist form with questions on if they have any of the symptoms related to the Coronavirus.

The players then move to the stands at Allan Trimble Stadium and maintain social distancing before hitting the field to do their work out. Once they are done with their field work, the players move inside to the weight room to do the second part of their work out. There are two weight rooms being used this year to help keep the numbers in the weight rooms lower.

The Jenks Athletic Department and booster club came together to purchase masks for all the athletes and coaches while they are inside the buildings, so they will always get a shot of sanitizer and a mask when they enter the weight room. Each weight room is cleaned and sanitized between each group.

“The kids don’t act like anything has changed,” Riggs said. “They have been really good about following our precautions and our restrictions. More than anything, they are just excited to be back together and to be moving forward with the football season.

Riggs added that the Jenks football players will go through several camps once Phase Two commences on June 22.

“We are going to have a couple of camps the week of June 22,” Riggs said. “We will have a skills camp and an offensive line, defensive line camp that week. We will then follow those up in July with a skills camp and every player will be there for that. All the camps will be no pads and no contact, and we will still take precautions. It will be good to get a helmet on and get back out there.”

Riggs said the first week of Phase One went well and it was good seeing his players again. “The kids have loved being back together,” Riggs said. “We have some extra steps as far as checking in and making sure everyone is healthy before they come in and limiting the number of people in our weight rooms, but those restrictions have been worth it to be able to get back together and get back to work.”

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Jenks Tribune Mission Statement “We are the Jenks community’s hometown source for hyperlocal news, sports and information that the people of our community need to know.”

Jenks Graduate Daniel Evans Earns Linda George Scholarship Submitted Jenks High School 2020 graduate Daniel Evans was recently named the winner of the 2020 Linda George Scholarship by the Jenks Public Schools Foundation.

Evans plans to attend the University of Tulsa and major in education. He served as an intern in the Jenks Public Schools Professional Internship Program at East Intermediate.

“Overall, my internship was an insightful experience in the career of an educator and how one can serve as a role model to students,” Evans said. “Through my exploring my love for teaching, I have decided to pursue a career in education.”

The Miss Linda George Scholarship Fund is a program designed to award a $4,000 scholarship to an academically talented, highly motivated Jenks High School senior who has demonstrated social commitment and leadership potential and who wishes to pursue a full-time undergraduate degree in education.

The scholarship program honors the late Linda George, a long-time teacher at Jenks Public Schools. Miss George taught 3rd grade for 45 years and continued teaching as a substitute for the next 20 years. In 1999, she was named Jenks Teacher of the Century.

Miss George served as an Ambassador for the Jenks Chamber of Commerce and was involved with the Jenks United Methodist Church, the Jenks Lions Club, and two teaching sororities. Miss George lived to be 100 years old. This scholarship program, established in 2011, is funded through the generosity of Miss George’s estate to honor her dedication to Excellence in Education at Jenks.

Jenks’ Logan Nobles Commits To Play Football At Oklahoma State

By Scott Wright, Oklahoman Sports Writer

On a day that just kept getting better for Oklahoma State, the offensive line got a little love Wednesday evening.

Jenks’ Logan Nobles, a 6-foot-6, 267-pound tackle prospect, committed to the Cowboys, becoming the fourth such pledge the Pokes received Wednesday.

It began with twin brothers Blaine and Bryson Green, receivers from Allen, Texas, and continued a couple hours later with Aubrey, Texas, defensive back Cam Smith.

Then came Nobles, OSU’s fifth Oklahoma high school prospect to pick the Pokes. He’s also the first offensive lineman in OSU’s 2021 recruiting class. Nobles was rated No. 19 in The Oklahoman’s initial Super 30 rankings released last month.

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Church Directory Beaver Street Baptist Church 102 W. Beaver Street Service times: 9:30am Sunday 10:45am Sunday 6pm Sunday Crossroads Church 2525 W. Main Street Service times: 10:30am Sunday 6pm Sunday 6:45pm Wednesday Dove Ministry 2833 W. Main Street Service times: 10:30am Sunday 6pm Sunday First Baptist Church 11701 S. Elm Street Service times: 8:30am Sunday 9:45am Sunday 11am Sunday First Christian Church 308 E. Main Street Service times: 9:45am Sunday 10:45am Sunday First Jenks United Methodist Church 415 E. Main Street Service times: 8:45am Sunday 10am Sunday 11:15am Sunday Jenks Bethel Baptist Church 11808 S. Elm Street Service times: 11am Sunday

Jenks Bible Church 708 W. Main St Service times: 10am Sunday 6:30pm Wednesday

Newspring Family Church 2907 W. 108th Place South Service times: 9:30am Sunday 10:30am Sunday

Jenks Church 1015 W. Main Street Service times: 10am Sunday

River Oaks Christian Church 300 N. Elm Street Service times: 9:30am Sunday 10:30am Sunday 6:30pm Sunday

Kirk Crossing 11420 S. James Avenue Service times: 9am Sunday 10:30am Sunday Life Church Jenks 890 W. 81st Street Service times: 4pm Saturday 5:30pm Saturday 8:30am Sunday 10am Sunday 11:30am Sunday 1pm Sunday 4pm Sunday 5:30pm Sunday 7pm Monday

St. James Presbyterian Church 11970 S. Elm Street Service times: 10:30am Sunday The Church at Jenks 2101 W. 118th Street 9am Sunday 11am Sunday The Connecting Co. 1737 W. 81st Street Service times: 10am Sunday

Marker Funeral Homes Now Provides 24-Hour Grief Support To Communities

Submitted

Marker Funeral Homes is a family of funeral homes and cremation services, including Hargrove-Marker Funeral & Cremation Services right here in Jenks. According to a recent news release, Marker Funeral Homes said it has always believed, as funeral professionals, it is responsible for educating individuals and families on the many different funeral services available, and to provide sufficient grief support to Tulsa and surrounding areas.

The group has been consistent in finding creative and safe ways to continue serving families before, during and after the loss of a loved one in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. They have also stayed strong with their belief in education and grief support.

The news release added that Marker Funeral Homes has recognized grief has changed during this time of being physically distanced from family and friends, who might otherwise be the hug or touch needed when suffering a loss.

The anger, resentment and feeling of being “cheated” that many families expressed led Marker Funeral Homes to search for new ways to meet the evolving needs of grieving individuals and families. “Serving families after loss is no different during a pandemic than it is any other time for them emotionally,” said Marker Funeral Homes Family Service Advisor Stephanie Powell.

Marker Funeral Homes said they wanted to find a way to provide detailed, personal grief support and education to families and their communities.

That search for grief support and education led Marker Funeral Homes to creating a free grief support app to offer families.

To acquire the new app, go to the app store or Google Play and download “CareFirstApp”. The app will give families and individuals a user-friendly grief support at their fingertips 24-hours a day, which will allow them to stay safe, while being supported in their grief journey.

The news release ended by saying it is Marker Funeral Homes’ responsibility, as funeral professionals, to make certain that people have what they need to walk through grief whether they chose the services of Marker Funeral Homes or not. They said it is a way Marker Funeral Homes can feel they can give back during a challenging time for everyone.

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