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SEPTEMBER 2018

FEATURES

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5 Teachers fashioning tomorrow’s ‘Leaders’ from early age

9 ECU education major shares faith, learns lessons from children in Kenya

6 Shackleford’s textile designs have roots in Native American heritage

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11 ‘Harry Potter’-themed musicals open surprising doors for local composer 8 Ada Artists Association’s Fall Show nearly triple the size of last year

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Teachers fashioning tomorrow’s ‘Leaders’ from early age By Sunnie Dawn Smith

hat is the purpose of a school? Is it simply to teach a child literacy and math skills, or is it something more? Can schools go beyond classroom academics and teach character? Cindy Brady, principal at Ada Early Childhood Center, would say yes. More than a decade ago, before she was a principal, Brady and other teachers were noticing a change in student behavior, and it was not a positive change. They knew that something had to be done, but they didn’t know what. They did some research and came across a series of books by Sean Covey titled “The Seven Habits of Happy Kids.” They purchased these books and started using the “common vocabulary of leadership” with the students, incorporating it into the classroom. Since then, their efforts have grown. Now, thanks to a generous grant from the Valley View Foundation, AECC is beginning year one of its three-year implementation of the Leader in Me program, which is designed to teach children leadership skills as well as build their character, confidence and independence. “Our strategic plan, which we have been working on for the past year, indicated the importance of teaching character,” Ada City Schools Superintendent Mike Anderson said. While they have already incorporated some of the program into their daily activities at AECC and were able to have a foundational session with a coach last year, this year they will be getting the professional development and resources they need in order to truly make a difference in the children’s lives. It all begins with the Seven Habits that are adapted from the popular “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.” Habit #1 is to “Be Proactive,” taking responsibility for their actions and acting responsibly. Habit #2 is “Begin With the End in Mind.” In other words, have a plan. Habit #3 is to “Put First Things First,” or to work first and play last. Habit #4 encourages students to “Think Win-Win” and find common solutions and compromises that work for everyone. Habit #5 is “Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood,” which asks the children to listen first. Habit

#6, “Synergize,” encourages kids to work together and collaborate, and Habit #7 is to “Sharpen the Saw,” or in other words, take care of yourself and balance your life. While this may seem like a lot to ask of four and five year olds, they rise to the occasion with great leadership in and out of the classroom, Brady said. The teachers send home monthly homework asking the children and their parents to make and accomplish goals related to the Seven Habits. “When we visited some other schools before we instituted this, it was not surprising to see how the kids acted and how the teachers taught it, but the parental engagement was (a surprise),” Anderson said. “If we can reach those components, and get the students, teachers and parents all on the same page, then we are on the right road.” The AECC faculty and staff are always looking for other ways to incorporate these habits into everyday life as well as finding the leader in every student. “Every student is different, but if we can find the leader in them, find that one thing a kid can do and make a big deal about it, it helps them so much,” Brady said. “Kids just want to be acknowledged.” In order to teach the kids character and good habits, though, the teachers and staff also have to incorporate these principles into their daily lives as well. This lends itself to a cooperative teaching environment in which it isn’t just one person who makes all the decisions. The teachers have some autonomy to change things on their own either individually or as part of a committee. This paradigm shift is echoed in the teachers’ interactions with students. The kids are given more chances to show their leadership, which leads to more independence and actually gives them a chance to take ownership of their school and their own education. One of the exciting things about this program is that it doesn’t end at AECC. It

is also being implemented at Hayes Grade Center and Washington Grade Center. “At Washington, we are implementing the Leader in Me philosophy to help build a culture within our school that empowers students to do their personal best, to encourage success in others and to contribute to the success of our school,” Principal Pam Martin said. “Our goal with the Leader in Me is to model and to help students learn early that doing these three things will enable them to be successful at anything they do. We are doing this by allowing our students to take on leadership roles both within the classroom and the school.” As the child moves from pre-k through fourth grade, they are given greater chances at leadership. The hope is that by the time students graduate from Ada High School, they will be true leaders who are ready to go out into the world and make a difference. “The Leader in Me is something we have been involved with for a few years at AECC, and it is something that we wanted to expand,” Anderson said. “(AECC students) can quote the seven habits and apply them at school; being able to expand this to other grade centers is exciting.”

The Ada Early Education Center has begun implementing the Leader in Me program to help instill “The Seven Habits of Happy Kids” and to teach young students how to be productive now as they build toward the future.

PHOTO BY NICHOLAS GEISLER

www.adahub.com • 5

Tyra Shackleford’s textile designs have their roots in Native American heritage and tradition. Tyra Shackleford

Designer channels heritage to create textile art By Sunnie Dawn Smith

ith the increased popularity of genealogical research and available DNA testing, more people than ever are searching for their cultural roots. However, this is difficult as so many cultural traditions have been lost with the passing of time. For Tyra Shackleford, her Chickasaw culture is of utmost importance in her life and the lives of her children. As a native artist, she is fortunate to be able to express her culture in a meaningful way while also sharing it with others so it will not disappear. When Shackleford’s father was in his thirties, he began learning about the roots of Chickasaw tradition. He was not raised with it, so it became an exploration of his culture. He took language classes and arts and crafts classes. He took up stickball and went to stomp dances. While doing this, he took his children with him, so that they would be raised in the traditions that he missed out on as a child. Now that Shackleford has two children of her own, she is following in the same path. Shackleford was a part of a Chickasaw 6 • www.adahub.com

dance troupe with her family as a child. When she was twelve, she decided she wanted to make a belt to go with her dress. It was a traditional ribbon dress based off the 1800s prairie-style design that her mother had made. A Seminole elder named Wisey Narcomey danced with them as well, and she was a master finger weaver. Narcomey taught Shackleford a basic chevron design pattern so she could weave her own belt. This is when Shackleford first started to realize her calling as a textile artist. After making her first belt – which she still wears today – she found other designs in books and would practice them. Eventually, she started combining the different patterns into her own, making them more intricate and creative. She continued making belts all the way through college. After college, Shackleford started working for the Chickasaw Nation’s cultural resources entity. Her passion is pre-European contact weaving, and she was able to research this and learn a lot more. In 2011, she made a new friend in James

Wallace. As a fellow artist, he loved her work and encouraged her to enter art shows. His support helped her transition from craft to art, as she started to go beyond belts and into more conceptual works of art. Two years later, they married. Shackleford now works in textile design, which is different from fashion design. In fashion design, designers focus on clothing, but in textile design they weave the fabric themselves, creating the work of art from the most basic elements. This has been her busiest year yet as an artist. She has eight pieces that are either in permanent collections in museums, traveling exhibits or fashion shows and has won four different prestigious awards, including first place in the Diverse category at the SWAIA Indian Market – which she said is like the Olympics for Native American art. This is not her first win at SWAIA, though. Two years ago she won Best of Division in textiles. Shackleford’s work mixes traditional techniques with her own creative inspiration as she creates works of art that

convey a message about her culture. For instance, “Twin Turkeys” – the piece she took to SWAIA this year – is a two-dimensional piece of lace-like fabric into which she has woven a design found on an ancient shell gorget from the Mississippian period, which pre-dates the Chickasaw culture. The two turkeys occupy space on either side of a pole and the image represents the world in which we live, with the upper world above and lower world below. This work of art depicts elements of the Mississippian belief systems in a way that is both culturally relevant and beautiful. Another work of art that Shackleford is most proud of is titled “The Lady.” It is currently in the traveling exhibit, Visual Voices: Contemporary Chickasaw Art, on loan from the permanent collection of the Eiteljorg Museum of the American Indians and Western Art. This piece was inspired by the journals from DeSoto’s 1540 expedition to the southeast part of the North American continent. The expedition came in contact with a chiefdom ruled by a female whom they called The Lady of Cofitachequi. The soldiers in DeSoto’s expedition were impressed by her power and the respect she had from her people. When they first encountered her, she was being carried on a litter covered in white cloth. These journal entries inspired Shackleford to create “The Lady,” which is an imposing and intricately woven shawl. It stands nine feet tall and is four feet wide. She designed it to hang and tower over the heads of its audience. This largerthan-life quality represents the tremendous respect and power this woman had in her community and also the respect and power that women carry in Chickasaw culture due to their matrilineal society. The intersection of culture and womanhood comes together elegantly in Shackleford’s work. Another piece, “Eho Tushka,” literally translates to “Warrior Woman” or “Lady Warrior.” It is a white cocktail dress that is completely woven with black and red accents like battle paint. This represents the female Chickasaw warriors who took up arms to defend their village against the French in the 1700s and were deemed the “Hatchet Women.” While this is a cocktail dress, it also pays tribute to these strong Chickasaw women. Shackleford said she doesn’t just want to make beautiful things. She also wants to convey her people’s history and culture through her art, hopefully bringing a greater level of understanding and appreciation to those who view her work. “I am trying to expose people to Chickasaw culture through my art, and then preserve those techniques because they were almost lost,” Shackleford said. “It was tough to teach myself, and I don’t want it to be that hard for someone else.”

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Ada Artists Association’s Fall Show nearly triple the size of last year By Sunnie Dawn Smith

n 1947, the Ada Artists Association was founded. In the past 71 years, it has grown tremendously, but never more than within the past year. When Corey King took over as president in January, he had two goals. First, he wanted to double the membership. Second, he wanted to raise the quality of their art shows and and make the Ada Artists Association more relevant in the Ada arts community. Within the first eight months of his tenure, both goals were accomplished. The membership exactly doubled, and their Fall Show was the largest and best show they have ever had. Last year, there were 55 pieces in the Fall Show. This year, however, the number jumped to 160 entries. Due to a grant, they were able to offer $500 in prize money to the first place winners in each category. Best in Show was awarded $1,000. The grant also provided three scholarships to East Central University for art students and three items raffled off at the Fall Show reception for members of the Ada Artists Association: an easel with an art kit, a set of watercolors perfect for painting outside and a high-end acrylic paint kit. They also gave away two scholarship positions for an upcoming painting class taught by Kelly Reed. This year, instead of being held at the Ada Public Library, the art show was held in the Chokma’si Gallery located in the Chickasaw Nation Arts and Humanities Building. This allowed for a larger gallery space, better suited for a show of this size and substance. King said he was afraid that they would have to jury the show – meaning only accept some of the submissions – but to his delight, they were able to find space for every work submitted. Some of the participants were amateurs, and some were professionals. Yet when visitors walk into the gallery, their breath is taken away at the sheer volume of quality artwork. “You walk in and feel like you are being hugged by this giant room of art,” King said. There is artwork that appeals to every taste. Some of them are representational, and others are abstract. Some are done in muted colors while others range from black and white to very colorful. Many of the works are also for sale, allowing people to 8 • www.adahub.com

Ada Artists Association’s Fall Show nearly triple the size of last year

put real art – by artists they can meet – in their own homes. If a piece won a ribbon and was sold, it was also sent to its new home with a ribbon as well so it can displayed as such. There were a total of five categories: oil/ acrylic, watercolor/charcoal/etc., 3D open/ wood/ceramic/jewelry, sculpture/wood/ clay/bronze/metal and photography/digital. First place in oil/acrylic went to Keith Murray for “Night Magic,” followed by Kelly Reed in second and Ashley Leming in third. Watercolor/charcoal/etc. netted a win for Kathryn Brunk for “Elegance,” followed by Traci Martin and Paul Walsh. 3D was won by Rudy Ellis for “Book of Enoch,” with Paul Pfrehm in second and Ellis again in third. The winner of sculpture was Patsy Lane with “Dinner on the Ground,” with Alan Burris coming in second and Linda Bayard in third. Finally, photography was won by Paula Loftin for “Ridin’ + Ropin’” with Stan Pollard and Cindy Lunday in second and third respectively. There were five honorable mentions for Tanya Lowrance, Paul Walsh, Sunkyung Choi, Paula Loftin and Storm Strickland. Best of Show went to Traci Martin for a charcoal portrait titled “Matt.” This drawing resembles a black and white photograph from a distance and it isn’t until viewers are

PHOTO BY NICHOLAS GEISLER

right next to it that they can see the marks of the charcoal. King anticipates even more involvement with the Ada Artists Association in the future. While they usually do two art shows, this year they decided to only do one to build it the way they wanted to. Next year, however, they will most likely have two shows. One would be an unjuried show with smaller prizes that is also open to youth. The other show would be juried with large prize money, multiple judges and open only to adults. In order to continue to grow the Ada Artists Association, however, it needs more members. While membership has doubled in the past eight months, the more members the better, King said. It is only $20 for a yearly membership. This gets members a discount on entry fees and the possibility of prizes. However, this is only a small portion of what one gets being a part of an arts organization. “You get access to these artists who are producing wonderful pieces of art,” King said. “These artists are doing what they love for a living. It can be difficult being an artist in Oklahoma, and when you see people living it and doing it, you know it is possible, and you get a stronger sense of community. You are a part of something big.”

ECU education major shares faith, learns lessons from children in Kenya By Sunnie Dawn Smith

hen Leah Whiten was 15 years old, she developed an intense desire to travel. More than just seeing the world, though, she wanted to help people the way she knew best – by sharing the love of Jesus Christ with those who needed it most. At 15, though, she simply was not ready. “God placed a desire on my heart to help people who didn’t have as much as I did and who needed someone to care about them,” Whiten said. “I wanted to travel the world and tell them that someone loves them, someone wants to help them and that they were not alone.” It took another eight years for Whiten to realize her goal, but when she did, it was the experience for which she had prayed. Whiten had attempted to travel to Africa multiple times. She had even started raising money, but she said the timing wasn’t right. “God always placed boulders in my way,” Whiten said. It wasn’t until she was older that she realized why. All of her experiences helped prepare her for the journey she was to face, and the people she was to meet. She had changed her major from music education to elementary education. She had become active in the children’s ministry at her church. She worked at the gift shop at Falls Creek for four summers in a row. Each of these opportunities helped prepare her for her journey to Africa and meeting the children there, allowing her to share her love and faith in a way that would be relevant and powerful to them. When Whiten became busy with her studies at East Central University, her dreams of missionary work lingered in the back of her brain, but they did not come to the forefront again until she became friends with Kassie and Daniel Ingle. Kassie directed Whiten in ACT II’s production of “The Wizard of Oz.” they became friends, and at dinner one night Whiten was sharing her testimony. When she mentioned that she dreamed of go-

Leah Whiten recently realized an eight-year-old dream of traveling overseas to share her faith with children in Kenya. PHOTO BY NICHOLAS GEISLER

ing to Africa as a missionary, they were amazed. They had done the same kind of work there before. They told her that she should come with them and their group, The World Mission Team. It took three years, but Whiten said she felt a pounding in her chest as if God was asking her to do this. She talked to her new friends, and they gave her direction. She started fundraising with a nonprofit out of the Philippines called Threads of Hope and was able to meet her goal. It wasn’t until she was on the plane that she realized this was it. She was actually going to Africa. As a 23 year old, this was the first time that Whiten had ever been on a trip without family. The only person she knew in her group was Daniel Ingle. Everyone else was a stranger, though it didn’t take long for them to become close. In fact, today

she misses them dearly – how Pete would hand out candy and hats, Teresa was always drinking tea and Jesse was always cracking jokes and doing impressions. She was the youngest one on the trip by more than a decade, but these like-minded souls quickly became new friends and family. The group stayed in Africa for two weeks, first spending two days in Nairobi and then 10 days in Kisumu County. They went back to Nairobi for their last two days. Whiten was prepared to sleep in the bush with her sleeping bag, bug spray and mosquito netting. She was actually a little disappointed to find out they were staying in a hotel, but the people there became family soon as well. Their mission team would visit schools every day in teams of two or three people. The small group would approach a school and talk to the head teacher – who was the equivalent of a principal back home – and ask if they could speak to the kids for a 20-30 minute presentation. If the teacher agreed, Whiten would do her presentation. Sometimes she would share worship or stories from the Bible. She would give them soccer balls with the colors of salvation on them as a reminder. Most importantly, though, she would tell them that Jesus loves them, and so does she. Whiten would share her own stories but also listen to the children tell about their lives. She also used the opportunity to talk to the teachers and ask them for advice as a future educator, allowing her to gain a different perspective on life and teaching. Whiten’s mission trip made a difference in the lives of those kids but also in her own life. She returned home with a new way of looking at the world. “All the kids were so happy and full of joy that it made me feel so selfish and ungrateful,” Whiten said. “There are 20 people to a house, and kids are going to school with 15-year-old books covered in dirt, and they are still excited because they are holding a book, and they get to go to school. I feel like I learned more from the people of Kenya than they learned from me.” www.adahub.com • 9

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‘Harry Potter’-themed musicals open surprising doors for local composer By Sunnie Dawn Smith

t age 24, Zach Garcia has already accomplished more than some do during a lifetime. Garcia is a musician, teacher and composer. He was raised around East Central University as his mother Sarah was a secretary for the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and his father Skye Garcia was a piano teacher, music theory professor and composer. His upbringing and opportunities allowed Garcia to start learning how to play the piano at age 4, and he remembers beginning to compose around ages 8 or 9. Growing up as the son of a composer, he remembers thinking that everything he heard was composed by either his father or Beethoven, because those were the composers he knew. When he grew older, though, he became enthralled by the background music in movies, the stylized soundscapes and would go to the piano to try to compose something like that. Garcia continued composing for the piano until he was around age 12. That is when he had a chance to study composition with Chickasaw composer and pianist, Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate, at the Chickasaw Summer Arts Academy. This pushed him as a composer, and he started composing string quartets. After learning from Tate, Garcia returned to his piano solos to find them more nuanced and sophisticated than they were before. When Garcia graduated from Ada High School, he decided to attend ECU and get his degree in vocal music education. It was at ECU that his life changed and took him down a path he never would have considered. When he was 20, he and his friends – who were all huge Harry Potter fans – wanted to put on a production of “A Very Potter Musical,” which was originally performed on the University of Michigan campus. Garcia had no theater background at the time, but he decided to take on the project and succeeded with the help of his friends. They had so much fun that they wanted to do it again. However, he wasn’t that impressed with the sequel that had already been written, so instead he wrote his own titled “A Scary Potter Musical.” Garcia had only written piano solos and

Zach Garcia worked on two Harry Potter-inspired musical with friends from college, which led to opportunities to teach music in New Zealand and study graduate-level composition at Oklahoma City University. PHOTO SUBMITTED

string quartets, but he was now challenged with writing a full script for a musical as well as choral pieces, solos and ensembles. It took him six months to write the script, writing and discarding over and over again until he finally had something he liked. Then, he realized he didn’t have any music, so he took two weeks during Christmas break and wrote all the music – 12 songs in total, two of which he scrapped. This musical was also a success. “Scary Potter opened doors that I didn’t even know were doors,” Garcia said. All of a sudden, his life was on a different trajectory. He had taught himself how to play guitar during the first Harry Potter production, and now he was being asked to do solo performance gigs around the state. The Chickasaw Nation gave him the opportunity to work as musical director for their production of “South Pacific.” For their next production, “Bye Bye Birdie,” Garcia was chosen to direct. He was even asked to teach guitar for the Chickasaw Nation, which was amazing since he only taught himself how to play a few years before. One of the most exciting development

in his life, however, came in the form of student teaching. One of his education professors was talking one day about how she had done her student teaching in Christchurch, New Zealand. Garcia was mesmerized by the idea and approached her about it after class. While ECU did not have any such program in place at the time, his instructors worked together to figure out a way to send Garcia to New Zealand. The university ended up partnering with Indiana University and their Global Gateway program, which allows students to pick one of seventy different countries to go to for student teaching. Garcia was the first from ECU, teaching for three months at Westlake Girls High School in Auckland, New Zealand. Now, any student at ECU has this opportunity. New Zealand was a new experience for Garcia. Not only was he thrown into a different culture, but they even had different musical terms. For a whole week he was completely lost, adrift in a different country. For instance, quarter notes are called “crotchets” and eighth notes are called “quavers.” He had to learn a new language despite the fact that they all spoke English. His adaptability served him well, though. This, along with “Scary Potter,” opened even more doors. Oklahoma City University accepted him to its master’s program in music composition despite the fact that his bachelor’s degree was in vocal music education and not composition. OCU has opened even more doors for Garcia as he is writing full orchestrations and moving toward professional level composition. As for the future, Garcia said he sees many possibilities. He would like to continue working in theater. He can see himself teaching public school, either in Oklahoma, New Zealand or anywhere in between. He wants to continue to write, whether it is orchestral scores or music theater ensemble work. The one thing he knows, however, is that he doesn’t know where his life will lead him. Four years ago, when he began work on the first Harry Potter musical, he could not have dreamt that he would have written an entire musical by himself, or taught in New Zealand or studied graduate level composition. He said he is interested to see where the next four years leads him. www.adahub.com • 11

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