Forget about learning dates. The Colonial Williamsburg Teacher Institute shows teachers how to bring history to life.

By Jessica Willingham

Posted Oct. 22, 2013

A hush settles over Teri McDaniel’s fifth-grade class as a document delicately makes its way from one set of hands to the next. Wide-eyed students examine the texture of the paper and one suspiciously large signature near the bottom of the page. McDaniel continues explaining the document’s origin, its rebellious writers and the revolution that erupted from one radical idea put on paper.

“Is this the real Declaration of Independence?” one student whispers in awe. McDaniel explains that it is simply a copy, made to look and feel like the original. Yet history has truly come alive in this moment for McDaniel’s students. It lives and is relived every day in classroom 23.

Focusing on primary sources such as letters, financial records, bills of sale, journals of farmers and other replicated artifacts, students test theories and draw conclusions about the lives of those who built early colonial America. “They’re scientists of history,” McDaniel said. She teaches fifth grade in Madill, Okla., but was able to travel back to early colonial America, thanks to an educational program designed to make history education come alive.

Chance Johnson, an elementary student from Dickson, Okla., demonstrates blacksmithing during a history class.

The Noble Foundation and the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence (OFE) have come together for the past 17 years to provide Oklahoma fifth-grade teachers the opportunity to attend the Colonial Williamsburg Teacher Institute at Colonial Williamsburg, Va. The Noble Foundation has given more than $295,000 to fund attendance for Oklahoma educators. Because of the generosity of many donors, including the Noble Foundation, Oklahoma sends the most teachers to the institute per capita, with more than 700 teachers participating to date.

“The Noble Foundation has an extensive history of funding projects that support or enhance Oklahoma education and educators,” said Mary Kate Wilson, director of philanthropy, engagement and project management at the Noble Foundation. “Our trustees take great joy in helping educators attend the Colonial Williamsburg Teacher Institute and watching them return to their classrooms energized and inspired to teach social studies. The students respond, and test scores reflect the impact of the experience.”

Invigorating experience

The joint effort between the organizations is not an unlikely marriage. Just as the Noble Foundation is driven by founder Lloyd Noble’s vision, the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence continues to fulfill the vision of its founder, David L. Boren. Boren is a former Oklahoma governor and senator, and, during his term as governor of Oklahoma, he attended an event held to honor the successes of students and their educators across the state. It wasn’t elaborate. It wasn’t well attended. It wasn’t grand. Boren believed public educators deserved more, so he gathered Oklahoma business owners, community leaders and private foundations to raise money for public educators and their programs.

“Our mission is to encourage academic excellence in public schools,” said Brenda Wheelock, Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence communications director and liaison for early American history programs. “We began the program, and the ripple effect has been felt through generations of students and teachers across the state.”

Wheelock attended the teacher institute in 2002 and describes the experience as career-altering, even spiritual, for educators.

“Many educators say the institute is the best professional development experience they’ve ever had and that they learned more there than in college,” she explained. “The institute doesn’t change the way educators teach history, it changes the way they teach all subjects. They learn how to make lessons engaging, exciting, relevant and hands-on. They learn how to be a great storyteller and how to use primary sources. They come back with so many ideas. It invigorates them as teachers, and they realize what they can do with their students and all the possibilities in the classroom.”

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Colonial Williamsburg actors in period clothing demonstrate a dance popular in the early days of America.

Experiencing education

For one week each summer, teachers are immersed in the late 1700s, living in and learning from the time period and the people who lived it. They experience history viscerally and take that back to the classroom. Much like the first colonists of America, the teachers begin their journey in Jamestown, Va.

“We walked on the ships the first colonists came to America on, learning about the hardships they faced, like disease and starvation,” said Jennifer Day, who has taught fifth-grade social studies for 17 years at Dickson public schools. “We walked through both Indian and English homes, learning about the real story of Pocahontas. It was amazing to stand on the same ground where the very first English colony was settled.”

Teachers not only walked, but worked as if it were the 1700s. Stomping mud in a brickyard, grinding corn and picking bugs off tobacco leaves were all activities designed to push the educators even deeper into the time period.

Yet Oklahoma educators weren’t the only ones uncovering history in Jamestown. The original colony is still a dig site, and teachers were able to meet with the chief archaeologist. Each teacher was given a stipend for supplies and was able to bring back replicas of agricultural tools and other artifacts found at the dig site, putting history in the hands of their students.

“History is a human thing,” said McDaniel, back in her classroom. After introducing students to an artifact, she asks what students believe about the person who used or created it, and how they lived. “We are now teaching kids to connect on a level that asks ‘How would I feel in that situation if I was a slave, a Native American, a loyalist, a farmer?’ Having been there inspires me to take children through lessons in the classroom.”

While at the institute, educators also get to meet the colonists and Founding Fathers of America. Interpreters – people who study primary sources of historical figures, then develop a living character of that person – spend the week with educators, telling stories and conducting trials and debates as both loyalists and patriots. With them, Oklahoma educators travel from Jamestown to Williamsburg and finally Yorktown – literally experiencing the journey of America’s origin from the first colony to the final British surrender.

“We sat in the same room where our forefathers debated the loyalist/patriot cause,” Day said. “We spent a day with an interpreter who acted as a leader in the army. He taught us how to march, carry our guns and fire.”

Bristin Davis molds clay art during a history class.

The role interpreters played in bringing history to life inspired Day and McDaniel, along with hundreds of other Oklahoma educators, to become interpreters in the classroom. McDaniel is looking forward to studying a historic figure to create a character. The students will then use what they’ve learned to explore that character’s social class, occupation and political affiliation. These methods are a long way from memorizing names and dates.

“There is a need for students to be taught in a way that is authentic,” McDaniel said. “Where they are figuring things out on their own, opposed to being lectured. If you involve them in the subject matter, they learn authentically, and it’s going to stick.”

Many institute graduates report seeing an increase in student interest, participation and academic performance after utilizing the methods taught at Colonial Williamsburg. The OFE is in the process of compiling a study to determine the rise in test scores correlated with methods taught at Colonial Williamsburg.

In Oklahoma, students are not tested in social studies until the fifth grade. The main focuses of the standardized test in social studies are called the “Common Core State Standards,” which are focused on citizenship, college and career.

Based on those standards and the success of the Colonial Williamsburg Teacher Institute, the OFE began “Colonial Day at the Capitol” – a day for Oklahoma educators and their students to come to the state Capitol and experience colonial America much like the educators experienced the institute. Students and teachers dress in colonial era clothes, and professional interpreters – some from Colonial Williamsburg – come to speak and debate with students. Oklahoma is one of the only states in the nation to host this type of event.

“I am so grateful for the Noble Foundation that cares enough about Oklahoma educators to put forth the money to help us become better,” McDaniel said. “The experience has changed how I teach.”

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Craftsmen at Colonial Williamsburg build a carriage.

The Sam Noble Scholarship supports area youth pursuing higher education in agriculture and technology.

By Courtney Leeper

Seth Coffey

Year: Second-year master’s student | Area of Study: Fire ecology

Undergraduate scholarship recipient from fall 2010 to fall 2014
Graduate scholarship recipient since fall 2015

Seth Coffey, a Sam Noble Scholarship recipient, assists with a prescribed burn. He plans to use his educational experiences to benefit his family’s ranch in southern Oklahoma.

Drought reigned the summer of 2011, and Seth Coffey was home after finishing his freshman year at Oklahoma State University.

He spent nearly every afternoon pumping water for cattle that summer. He’d work from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the oil fields about 30 minutes away from his family’s ranch in the Arbuckle Mountains of south-central Oklahoma. Then he’d come home, take an hour-long nap and head back outside.

Many times Coffey observed the landscape around him. Some grasses withered in the dry ground leaving others to take the brunt end of the cattle’s constant food seeking, or foraging. He saw the classic symptoms of overutilization: stressed and dying plants, which led to limited grazing sources for the cattle and other problems like bare ground, which can lead to erosion.

“That summer showed me how important it is to manage land correctly,” said Coffey, a sixth generation rancher. “Not that we were doing it incorrectly. The cows had to have water, and those were the only two pastures with working wells. But I distinctly remember thinking, ‘I never want to see this pasture like this again.'”

During his junior year, the agribusiness student added a second major: rangeland ecology and management. The following fall, he took an elective fire ecology class taught by John Weir, an OSU research associate known for his work with prescribed burns. He took another in the spring.

“We see a lot of eastern redcedar trees around the Arbuckles,” Coffey said. “When I learned about prescribed fire and its benefits to the land, including managing cedar, I knew this could be my way of giving back to my community when I return to the ranch.”

In February 2015, he helped with his first prescribed fire. He was in charge of using a leaf blower to prevent smoldering debris from escaping the burn unit. He’d go on to help with as many more burns as his schedule would allow. He even opted out of a spring break trip to Florida with friends so he could go home to help his family conduct their first prescribed burn.

As Coffey’s final undergraduate semester approached, Weir asked if he would be interested in pursuing a master’s degree in fire ecology. He said yes, applied and is now advised by Professor Samuel Fuhlendorf, Ph.D., and Weir in the program.

Coffey was awarded the multiyear Sam Noble Scholarship as an incoming freshman. He then reapplied as a master’s student and was awarded the graduate scholarship.

“The scholarship has helped me financially, of course,” he said. “It’s also helped me learn how to be successful because I’m paying attention to my GPA and treating college as my job. If you learn to treat your education as your job, you can find different ways to apply your educational opportunities to your career.”

He remembers reading the story of Lloyd Noble when reapplying for the scholarship. He connected with Noble’s desire to do something to help when he saw the Dust Bowl’s effects on the land.

“That’s kind of how I felt when I saw the problems from the drought in 2011,” Coffey said. “I see my duty as getting my education in fire ecology and bringing that knowledge back to the ranch and community. It’d be a good way of passing on that legacy.”

Samantha Howe (right), a Sam Noble Scholarship recipient, helps build a birdhouse as part of her summer internship with Noble Research Institute in 2016. She is interested in animal genetic research.

Samantha Howe

Year: Sophomore | Area of Study: Animal science, emphasis in animal biotechnology

Scholarship recipient since fall 2015

Samantha Howe stood in front of a panel of judges at the 4-H Horse Field Day speech contest held at Oklahoma State University (OSU) in 2010.

She was in seventh grade at the time and had just learned that her speech on the genetics of horse color had won first place. She would go on to compete and earn fourth place at the national level in North Carolina.

“I had researched all the information for that speech and found it so cool,” Howe said six years later. “I couldn’t get enough.”

She continued to read articles about human and animal genetics. And, in high school, she savored her biology teacher’s lessons on the topic. Now she’s studying animal science at OSU with an emphasis in animal biotechnology. “I’ve been interested in going into agriculture as long as I can remember,” said Howe, who grew up on a commercial Black Angus ranch between Sulphur and Dickson, Oklahoma. “It’s always been science that has clicked in my mind, so that’s what I want to pursue.”

She is particularly interested in beef genetics, the study of hereditary traits in cattle.

In the mid-1700s, an English cattle and sheep farmer, Robert Bakewell, became the first to improve his herds through a genetic approach. He strayed from the day’s standard practice by separating male and female livestock. Then he intentionally selected mating pairs based on desirable physical characteristics, such as size and ability to convert grass to muscle. Hundreds of years later, cattlemen and women continue to use his method of selective breeding to enhance desirable traits in their herds. Over time, they’ve developed polled, or hornless, bloodlines within horned breeds of cattle and black-colored bloodlines in historically red-colored breeds (such as Simmental and Limousin). Cattle producers also select for traits beneficial to their animals’ health and well-being as well as to match consumer preference for marbling, leanness and other meat quality traits.

The study of beef genetics also makes cattle producers (particularly those who raise purebred cattle) aware of rare, recessive diseases, such as neuropathic hydrocephalus. With this genetic information, cattle breeders know how to avoid breeding carriers and evade the emotional and economical heartache caused when a calf is born with the recessive disease.

“I’ve seen how those defects affect the cattle and our ability to make a living and produce beef,” Howe said. “It’s interesting to me that it may be just one gene that causes the problem, that one little thing can so significantly affect a whole animal.”

The science-seeker was familiar with Noble Research Institute, which is largely funded by The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, before she decided to pursue a career studying cattle genes and finding ways to help producers improve their herds. Her father has asked questions of the agricultural consultants from time to time, and she visited the facility during middle school field trips. A close family friend who previously received the Sam Noble Scholarship encouraged Howe to apply, which she did in 2015.

“Receiving this scholarship means so much to me,” Howe said. “Because of it, I don’t have to worry about loans, and I can focus on classes and leadership activities.”

She also hopes to focus on work in an animal genetics laboratory as an undergraduate student at OSU soon. “My life goal is to go into animal genetic research,” she said. “Having a prominent agricultural research institution’s support means a great deal to me.”

Noble Foundation granting changes lives, circumstances

By Jessica Willingham

Some people get there by bike. Some get there using a free bus pass issued to them by the prison upon their release. Some borrow a ride from a friend or stranger. Still others walk from their makeshift bed – a park bench.

Their destination stands just past the Mercedes dealership, where the buildings quickly morph into dilapidated warehouses and abandoned businesses with windows as tired and empty as the eyes of those standing outside them.

On the other side of the tracks, headed toward the east side of Oklahoma City, The Education and Employment Ministry (TEEM) would seem as hopeless a cause as the people who shuffle through its doors. Yet not everything is always as it seems.

At least, that’s what Brent Berry learned. An accomplished Oklahoma City attorney, he dropped off a box of old suits to TEEM‘s headquarters when his law firm was participating in the drive for charity. The man taking his boxes was tattooed and clearly down and out. “I didn’t have high expectations of the people at TEEM,” Berry confessed. “I admit I immediately passed judgment on the people here.” Despite outward appearances, Berry found the man assisting him with his boxes to be polite, helpful and proud of his work. In fact, each of TEEM‘s 18-member staff impressed Berry to the point he truly wanted to understand the organization’s mission.

TEEMing up

TEEM works with more than 100 partners to eradicate poverty, homelessness and unemployment in Oklahoma. Their task is not an easy one.

Sixteen percent of Oklahomans live below the poverty line, and one person in eight is incarcerated. The Sooner State ranks No. 2 in the nation for female incarceration and No. 5 for males. More than 2,000 are released every year and expected to find employment, but are rarely given the chance to do so.

“We all want jobs,” said Bobby Nelson, a student at TEEM. “If you can’t work, you can’t eat. If you can’t eat, you steal. I’m tired of being hungry and stealing. I’m a man who can do better.”

Bobby Nelson celebrates his graduation from TEEM’s Career Development Workshop.

Of those who show up at TEEM‘s door, nearly 50 percent are recently released from prison. “A lot of people think that when you get released from incarceration, the Department of Corrections has properly prepared you to re-enter the workforce,” said Sarah Blaney, TEEM Development Coordinator. “The truth is, all you get is $50 and a bus pass.”

Another large portion of TEEM students – 31 percent – are homeless, and the majority suffer from addiction and generational poverty. They all come from different situations and walk through the door with one objective: meaningful employment.

“The more time I spent with TEEM, the more my impressions changed,” Berry said. “The staff and students carry themselves with a strong sense of importance. The services TEEM provides are vital because it’s about survival. They’re giving others the tools to succeed and be self-sufficient. I have been, and continue to be, blown away by the people here.”

Berry is now a board member and active volunteer with TEEM.

Portraits and quotes from past TEEM participants serve as inspiration to current program students.

A Legacy of Support

Like Berry, The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation also came to believe in TEEM and its cause. In 1991, the Foundation began a relationship with the nonprofit that has resulted in 27 grants and more than $470,000 dollars in support.

“The stories of TEEM students and their successes are remarkable,” said Mary Kate Wilson, director of granting at the Noble Foundation. “The Foundation wanted to be a part of continuing that success. Our relationship has been a consistent one because the trustees truly believe in the work TEEM is doing – giving people a hand up, not out.”

TEEM receives funding from individual donations, but a large majority – 60 percent – comes from private institutions like the Noble Foundation. “The impact Noble has on TEEM and its services is hard to quantify. It’s our lifeblood,” Blaney said. “Most organizations want to support programs specifically, such as bus passes or meals. We need those, too, but the most difficult dollars to raise are general operating funds. People don’t want to pay to keep the lights on, the building open or make sure you have a receptionist. That’s not the glamorous stuff people want to give to, but it’s what allows TEEM to keep running efficiently so we can impact the world in the way we want to impact it.”

Keeping the lights on has ensured TEEM‘s assistance to more than 12,000 people since its inception. Yet, as the economy continues to suffer, TEEM‘s need in Oklahoma City grows and puts a strain on staff and resources. As usual, they face opposition with optimism and the help of the Noble Foundation, other generous organizations and people like Brent Berry, who are willing to give their time and faith.

Glenn Denison, a volunteer at TEEM, arranges clothing that is provided to program participants for job interviews.

Giving back

Thirty-eight percent of TEEM‘s staff are former participants in the programs.

“Many people are anxious to get jobs, but simply aren’t ready,” said LaNeeta Bradley, a former student who is now employed as a job coach by the organization. “By the time they get here, their self-esteem is down so low they have a fear of interviewing. We help build that self-esteem and identify values and goals. By the time they complete the class, the anxiety is gone and they’re prepared for the interview.” Of those who complete Bradley’s class, 98 percent gain meaningful employment. Bradley continues to mentor each student through their first year back in the workforce.

TEEM reaches beyond the efforts to secure meaningful work and offers additional support through social services. “If life isn’t working in the home, it’s not working anywhere,” said Rev. Tony Zahn, former attorney and current executive director of TEEM. “A person who goes through TEEM receives help with finding treatment, housing and other parts of their lives that we don’t directly handle. We try to help them in every area, to improve their whole lives.”

Transportation, child care and various rehabilitation centers are all available to students through TEEM. Two meals are served a day at the headquarters, made possible by the Regional Food Bank and grocery store donations. TEEM‘s kitchen manager, a former student, cut the organization’s food costs by 25 percent after being given a chance at employment. Doing more with less isn’t something new for TEEM and its students and staff.

To help support its many activities, the nonprofit hosts a series of drives to restock its clothing closet and hygiene items.

Nellie Cotreras, a program participant, speaks at her graduation from the Career Development Workshop.

Graduation day

It’s Friday afternoon, and light streams through the glass windows of TEEM‘s chapel, dancing as people shuffle past and take their seats in the pews. Many students are wearing suits and pride for the first time. It’s graduation day. They each take their turn, speaking words of encouragement to their classmates and words of gratitude to TEEM. As the final speaker concludes, the chapel stands with an emotional and powerful ovation. In the very back stands Berry, clapping with admiration for the graduates who have defied all odds, even the ones they placed on themselves. Whatever shadows loom in people’s lives, TEEM is a place to turn expectations and perceptions around, Berry knows all too well.

Deborah Patterson (seated), a TEEM program participant, learns keyboarding from instructor Lyn Turner.

Noble Foundation grants aid the Oklahoma City Museum of Art as it enriches lives through its cinema program, film festival

By Jessica Willingham

E. Mike Whittington leans in to get a better look at an intricate and aging sketch, inhales and then whispers a barely audible “Wow.” Around him, temperature-controlled crates flown in from Paris are being carefully unpacked, larger-than-life portraits are being installed, and art curators wheel paintings to their designated locations as assistants arrange sculptures.

Whittington, president of the Oklahoma City Museum of Art (OKCMOA), is admiring a sketch created by 15th century Italian architect and painter Raphael Sanzio da Urbino. Urbino’s work and the work of some of history’s most celebrated artists is set to be featured in a new exhibit at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art – the first stop on the collection’s American tour.

Like Urbino’s sketch, some art comes to visit and some is here to stay. The museum’s permanent collection has 3,000 works that represent more than 400 years of European and American art from the 19th and 20th centuries. The story of the museum’s journey to this place in time is as rich, complex and diverse as the pieces it holds.

One might say the museum’s journey began at the movies.

A multistory glass sculpture by Dale Chihuly greets visitors to the Oklahoma City Museum of Art.

At the Movies

Its home once near the Oklahoma City Fairgrounds, the museum relocated to downtown Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, in the 1990s. The OKCMOA‘s new home was a long-abandoned 1940s movie palace, the Center Theater. Even after extensive internal and external renovations, and additions to the building, the Art Deco vibe of the old palace still shines through the architecture. The Center Theater’s original box office still stands near the museum’s main entrance. It’s a reminder that even when America’s “greatest generation” was steeped in war, there was still one beloved place of escape – the movies.

“Understanding the building itself is to understand a great deal about what this museum means to this city and for Oklahomans,” Whittington said. “The museum’s relocation downtown, saving this building and repurposing it was a catalyst for downtown development. And it gave the museum the opportunity to create a film program.”

Through a series of grants totaling $2.6 million, the Noble Foundation assisted the OKCMOA in building and maintaining one of the most advanced digital theaters and the only art house cinema in the state – which has been named The Samuel Roberts Noble Theater in honor of its support. Using the existing architecture, the OKCMOA rebuilt the theater and brought the magic of movies back to life.

Before the new building and support from organizations like the Noble Foundation, the museum’s film program consisted of poor-quality screenings, folding lawn chairs, and a small but dedicated following of independent, foreign, and classical film fans, said Bryon Chambers, assistant curator of education at the OKCMOA.

“It was kind of a struggle,” Chambers said.

Today, the 250-seat Noble Theater hosts 335 screenings and 25,000 visitors a year.

With funding from the Noble Foundation, the theater began its first phase of theater Projection Perfection. Since the Noble Theater’s initial construction in the early 2000s, cinema has changed from hard-copy film to a completely digital format. The Projection Perfection campaign will enable the theater to stay within the current trends of the industry and remain a destination for independent film distributors and the next generation of filmmakers. The improvements will bring state-of-the-art digital, visual and audio technology paired with new, plush seating to transform the theater experience for filmgoers and producers alike.

With the creation and advancement of the Noble Theater, future generations of filmmakers no longer have to escape to the Coasts for opportunities and careers in the industry, according to Chambers. The OKCMOA is cultivating the next generation of artists right in the heart of America. University of Oklahoma film students come to the Noble Theater to learn about film narrative, history and production. Every June, the Noble Theater is home to the deadCENTER film festival, the largest film festival in Oklahoma.

“The film program has been an integral part of our maturity, a wonderful symbol of how we celebrate art,” Chambers said. “With the help of the Noble Foundation, we are truly a visual arts center.”

Yes, Whittington certainly admires the age-old sketch, but he appreciates the tremendous growth – up almost 29 percent last year – associated with the variety in programming.

“Our audience is getting younger and becoming more diverse,” Whittington said. “We’re pleased our audience is beginning to reflect the diversity of this community in every sense.”

Students learn about contemporary art in the museum’s galleries.

Beyond museum walls

Every day at the OKCMOA is as uniquely individual as the museum’s signature sculpture: a 76-foot tower of 2,100 pieces of blown glass by Dale Chihuly. Classes, workshops and seasonal camps are hosted throughout the year, and every Thursday night brings the community to the museum’s rooftop for drinks and live music.

“The communities formed around art, agriculture and education are essential to improving life and culture in Oklahoma,” said Mary Kate Wilson, Noble Foundation’s director of philanthropy, engagement and project management. “Our trustees appreciate being part of fostering those connections and supporting cultural growth in our state.”

Those connections are taking place both inside and outside the museum. The OKCMOA fosters community outreach programs for families, adults and children in the surrounding communities.

The museum also partners with organizations throughout the Oklahoma City area to help citizens in need heal through the arts. Children with hearing or vision impairments attend museum-hosted summer camps. OKCMOA works to connect with members of the community who may not be able to visit the museum for medical or health reasons. Enabling all people to experience art within and beyond museum walls is central to the museum’s mission: to enrich lives through the arts.

Noble Foundation grants helped to fund construction of a 250-seat theater within the Oklahoma City Museum of Art.

While the latest exhibition wraps up installment on one floor of the OKCMOA, the deadCENTER film festival is just beginning its preparations for another season. Somewhere in the middle, an entire class of preschoolers holds hands to form a long line, slowly but noisily snaking their way from gallery to gallery.

For each individual who visits, the museum offers something a little bit different – a unique opportunity, a quiet escape, a whimsical adventure. From exquisite French paintings to the excitement of the silver screen, everything at the OKCMOA brings art alive for the thousands of Oklahomans who visit each year.

And Whittington doesn’t take a bit of it for granted, saying “Without the help of the Noble Foundation and organizations like them, none of this would be possible.”

An automotive technology student gains classroom knowledge, hands-on learning and real-world experience with support from a Sam Noble Scholarship.

Michael Evens credits family with his lifelong fascination with automobiles and fixing them.

“My grandfather got me into it,” the 20-year-old Marlow man says, of his love for auto mechanics. “As long as I can remember, he always had a car to play with. And I was out there helping him.”

While Evens mirrored his grandfather when it came to tinkering with cars, he laughs when he admits he did not follow in his grandfather’s exact footsteps.

“He likes Chevys, and I went to Ford,” Evens says, laughing again while admitting, “It made him mad, at first. And I thought it was funny.”

The skills Evens grew up with followed him into high school, when he began taking classes part-time at the local technology center. There, a teacher who had been a Ford technician suggested Evens consider attending the Ford Automotive Student Service Education Training program, or ASSET, at Oklahoma State University Institute of Technology in Okmulgee.

The teacher’s description intrigued Evens, who continued to ponder the idea as he secured his first full-time job after high school. Evens graduated on a Friday. The following Monday, he started work in the service department of Billingsley Ford in the nearby town of Duncan. By the end of the summer, Evens knew he was in the right career field and that he wanted to further his education.

The ASSET Advantage

In August 2016, Evens moved to Okmulgee and entered ASSET. The two-year program is designed to give students specialized automotive training and real-world experience as they earn Ford certifications and associate degrees in applied science.

“It’s a total immersion in service technology,” says Evens, who graduated from the program at the end of August. “You learn every Ford-specific system on a vehicle, which will put you years ahead of learning in a shop. So, it’s a really big advantage to get ahead in a shorter amount of time.”

During the last two years, Evens has studied traditional subjects in the classroom while also completing a hands-on curriculum in the program’s automotive laboratory. The program also requires an internship. When it was time for Evens to take what he learned in the classroom and apply it on the job, he returned home and to the familiar shop at Billingsley Ford.

But, Evens says, he isn’t certain he could have chased his dream without his two-year Sam Noble Technology Scholarship.

“I was left with a couple thousand dollars (of debt) even with federal assistance, and I don’t think I could have paid it out of pocket without getting more loans,” he says, of the expenses of attending school. “The scholarship usually paid for most of what I had left (in debts each semester). It was very, very helpful.”

The scholarship is named after Sam Noble, son of founder Lloyd Noble, who bequeathed funding in 1992 to establish the program, which supports south-central and southeast Oklahoma students as they pursue degrees in technology and agriculture.

“Sam Noble knew that education is one of the most valuable tools in life,” says Alexis Carter-Black, Noble Foundation director of philanthropy. “Thanks to his generosity, we have the privilege of watching students like Michael Evens as they grow in their studies and step out into the professional world, where we know they will create positive impacts in their communities.”

Classroom to Auto Garage

Jeremey Harris, Ford ASSET program instructor at OSU, says that while students come from a variety of backgrounds, successful candidates all share the desire to learn as they work their way through the 12 major areas associated with the certification.

“They have to want to be here. They have to take initiative and be responsible for their own education. We provide the environment, and they provide the desire,” Harris says, adding that Evens fits into the program because of his desire to learn.

“His performance and behavior are exactly what we want from our students so they will be successful,” he says. “He works well with anyone he is partnered up with in the lab or the shop. He is the type of student we would hope to have every year, the kind that wants to be a technician and not just a parts changer.”

The key to the program is small bites. Students spend two months in the classroom then apply what they learn at their internship site for two months.

“You take that small bit of information and apply it instead of receiving it for two years then going to a shop,” Evens says. “When you take it and immediately use it, it sticks with you.”

The blend of academics and hands-on learning can be points of worry for students trying to do their best while also putting finances into place to cover everything from tuition and textbooks to housing and tools. The Sam Noble Scholarship means one less burden, Evens says.

“I worry a lot less about how I pay for this, about whether I will have more debt when I get out,” he says.

Looking to the Future

When Evens returns to southern Oklahoma after graduating from ASSET, he’ll not only have a college diploma and practical knowledge. He’ll have a job.

In September, Evens will return to Billingsley Ford as an automotive technician. For the first time, he will not be working alongside a mentor. Instead, he will use what he’s learned to diagnose and address automotive troubles by himself. The thought is a little intimidating but exciting, he says. And, he has big dreams for the future.

He would like to stay with the dealership and eventually work his way up through the ranks of the service department to become a manager. “There are good people here, good work. And, it’s close to home,” he says. “I feel confident that my education is going to help me now and in the future.”

Victoria Chapman is pursuing her goal to support farmers and ranchers with help from the Sam Noble Scholarship Program.

Victoria Chapman has set her sights on a career path that allows her to serve an industry she loves: agriculture.

Chapman was born and raised as the fourth generation on her family’s cattle operation in south-central Oklahoma. From a young age, she remembers helping her father with day-to-day ranch duties like gathering cattle, checking heats and processing calves each spring. During this time, Chapman was also exposed to the policy side of the agriculture industry.

“Growing up, every summer, my siblings and I would attend the Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Convention annual meeting,” Chapman says. “It seemed as though this was only a routine but, what I didn’t realize, it was teaching me dedication and commitment to the industry.”

Throughout her childhood, Chapman was a member of several agricultural organizations. She exhibited livestock at local, state and national shows and had a keen interest in agriculture-related competitions. She credits her involvement with her local FFA as having the biggest impact on her educational decisions.

“Proudly wearing the blue and gold corduroy jacket for five years, I was exposed to several different areas within the ag industry,” Chapman says. “This allowed me to discover my own interests in specific areas and would eventually prepare me for a future occupation in agriculture.”

Pursuing a Career in Ag

Today, Chapman attends Oklahoma State University and is preparing to take the next step in her life’s goal of serving and working within the agriculture industry. She’s currently studying agribusiness with an emphasis in pre-law and minor in legal studies and is set to graduate with her bachelor’s degree in May 2020.

Victoria Chapman, a senior at Oklahoma State University and recipient of the Sam Noble Scholarship, studies agribusiness with an emphasis in pre-law and minor in legal studies.

“I was interested in ag business because of the opportunity for hands-on experience,” Chapman says. “Professors are great at relating lessons learned in the classroom to real-life situations similar to what my family would experience and use to run our ranching operation. Choosing my minor to be in the area of legal studies fueled my interest in policy, especially as it pertains to understanding wording and meanings behind contracts.”

Chapman is heavily involved in OSU’s College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources (CASNR). She has kept busy with internships and positions within departments and has actively participated in on-campus organizations. She is quick to note being a recipient of the Sam Noble Scholarship has allowed her to focus heavily on her studies and simultaneously participate in many extracurricular activities.

“The Noble Foundation’s investment in my education has allowed me to pursue an academic career in the field of agriculture while also giving me the opportunity to grow as a person and build relationships with other students and faculty involved in CASNR,” Chapman says.

From internships in Washington, D.C., with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm Production and Conservation division, to serving as a CASNR ambassador and the executive director of the Student Alumni Board, Chapman embodies everything the Sam Noble Scholarship Program sets out to accomplish.

“Victoria Chapman exemplifies the ideal Sam Noble Scholar,” says Alexis Carter-Black, Noble Foundation’s former director of philanthropy. “We are proud of her achievements and look forward to her leaving her mark in the field of agriculture.”

Scholarship Program

Every year, the Sam Noble Scholarship Program endorses students from south-central Oklahoma who have dreams of obtaining an associate degree in technology or bachelor’s and graduate degrees in numerous agriculture-related fields.

“The Noble Foundation’s investment in my education has allowed me to pursue an academic career in the field of agriculture while also giving me the opportunity to grow as a person and build relationships with other students and faculty… .”Victoria Chapman, 2018 Sam Noble Scholarship recipient

“The main purpose of the Sam Noble Scholarship Program is to support the educational aspirations of students who want to pursue a future in agriculture,” Carter-Black says. “The scholarship has clearly served its intended purpose by choosing Victoria Chapman as a recipient.”

Selected recipients can receive up to $20,000 to put toward their college or post-high-school education. The scholarship is available to students who plan to attend or are currently attending a land-grant institution in the U.S. or a technical program offered by Oklahoma State University Institute of Technology, Okmulgee or Oklahoma State University, Oklahoma City. Students must also hail from one of Oklahoma’s south-central or southeastern counties.

The scholarship is extremely competitive, Carter-Black says.

“Each year we receive a number of applications from high achieving students — those who have graduated at the top of their high school classes with 4.0 GPAs and above, many with ACT scores above 30 and a few each year with perfect ACT scores,” she says.

Future Plans

Following graduation, Chapman plans on entering the workforce. She would like to continue her growth and development within the agriculture industry by obtaining a livestock marketing position that deals specifically with policy.

“I hope to serve producers and consumers through regulatory and financial hardships that will arise over time through the changes in the industry,” Chapman says.

Every industry is constantly evolving, and Chapman believes the agriculture industry is no exception. Part of her 10-year plan after college is to work with producers, small and large, to devise and fight for policy that fits their ever-changing needs.

“I’d like to work first with small farmers and ranchers in rural areas and eventually move into working with commercial operations,” Chapman says. “I’d like to create consulting relationships with these producers and analyze legislation with and for them.” 

Oklahoma City’s high-tech destination is an all-girls inspiration.

Lilly Thomson never considered becoming a scientist before Camp Trivera.

Camp Trivera is an urban STEAM campground founded by Girl Scouts Western Oklahoma in the heart of the Adventure District in Oklahoma City. The camp is designed to feature a STEAM surprise around every corner. Visible piping and wiring through walls highlight the mechanics of elevators or the science of a kitchen. Treehouses and hammock sleeping decks introduce camping skills and stargazing. A Thunder-branded basketball court and an indoor rock-climbing wall combines physics and geology. Scouts can hike or canoe on the camp’s 19 acres or learn aerodynamics by zip lining on the Monarch Flyway to the Oklahoma City Zoo, or visit neighboring Botanical Gardens, First Americans Museum and Science Museum.

“What girls will learn here will be building blocks for their brain. If we see it, we can be it.”

Lilly Thomson, Oklahoma Girl Scout

But Camp Trivera’s most futuristic feature is the Wall of Women — an interactive, touchscreen mural highlighting international, national and local women in STEAM. Girls can meet virtual mentors like zoologists, geologists, oceanographers and aerospace engineers by clicking the screen and following their career paths before choosing a STEAM kit of camp activities based on a specific scientist’s research.

“Camp Trivera is about getting interested in things we otherwise wouldn’t have an opportunity to,” says Thomson, a career Oklahoma Girl Scout and top-selling cookie entrepreneur and leader who participated in the design process for the camp. “It’ll change my future and the future of every girl who comes to this camp.”

Thanks to Camp Trivera, Thomson says she might have a future in science, technology, engineering, arts and math (STEAM).

Girl Scouts’ mission is to build girls of courage, confidence and character who make the world a better place. Girls of every background are invited to enroll in introductory STEAM programs starting at age 5 continuing to graduation from the organization at 17. In Oklahoma, 82% of the 12,000 Girl Scouts are from metro areas, with 67% living below the poverty line. Oklahoma Girl Scouts offers an introduction to possibilities never before seen at home or in school as well as access to mentors and career paths rarely thought possible.

“What girls will learn here will be building blocks for their brain,” Thomson says. “If we see it, we can be it.”

Selling Camp Cookieland

Oklahoma Girl Scouts Camp Cookieland in Newalla, Oklahoma, served scouts in all the classic ways since 1948. Girls earned badges through outdoor experiences like building fires and exploring nature. But when construction was routed through the camp in 2016, the organization sold Camp Cookieland to the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority for $3.2 million.

Selling the camp was a lesson in advocacy, says Melissa Pepper, Girl Scouts Western Oklahoma chief development officer. Letting go of Cookieland meant envisioning a new camp to meet modern needs. To understand those needs, the Girl Scout Research Institute (GSRI) annually reviews the “State of Girls” and provides data-driven information on the best ways to engage campers and guide programming. GSRI found that girls learn best in all-girl environments, where they feel safer to take risks, fail and try again. In these settings, girls also take on roles they may otherwise not in coed groups, says Pepper.

“The longer girls stay in Girl Scouts, the better they do in life, the better they are as community leaders, the better they are as philanthropists,” Pepper says. “Our research says if girls enjoy camp, they stay in Girl Scouts longer.”

To keep girls interested in Scouts, they have to love camp. So, the girls decided to engineer their own.

Creating Camp Trivera

Like everything in Girl Scouts, the way forward to a new camp was girl-led. Girl Scouts used the organization’s eight-step advocacy program to form committees and town halls. Troops toured potential site locations, brainstormed designs, and considered what organizations might fund their more than $13 million dream for a modern camp focused on girls in STEAM — the first of its kind nationally.

“There’s a huge deficit when you consider how many STEAM jobs are available compared to how many prepared individuals there are. The biggest gap is in women in STEAM,” Pepper says. “With this camp, we’re doing our part to help close that gap and support the STEAM industry, which ultimately supports Oklahoma’s economy.”

Girl Scouts designed Camp Trivera to blend STEAM programs and traditional camp experiences. The outdoor heated-pool hosts water aerobics class and underwater robotics competitions. Chemistry labs and STEAM learning centers offer lessons on cybersecurity to agricultural research.

A STEAM camp meets one of Girl Scouts’ core visions for the future: to introduce 2.5 million girls to the STEAM workforce pipeline by 2025.

“STEAM camp is a way to open up girls’ minds,” says Katie Francis, a Girl Scout alumnae and former girl representative on the board for Girl Scouts Western Oklahoma and the discovery team for Camp Trivera. “If you ask a sample group of boys and girls, ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’ You’ll see the gender gap. There’s a growing need for STEAM and jobs to be filled. To have the mindset to succeed in a STEAM field, girls need to be shown from a young age that this is possible.”

“We recognize that today’s students are the future for agriculture and our society. We want to do everything we can to help cultivate critical thinkers who understand and appreciate agriculture and the role of science in it.”

Stacy Newman, Noble Foundation director of philanthropy

Pepper estimates 5,000 Girl Scouts will attend a day or overnight STEAM activity at Camp Trivera each year, with an estimated 10% yearly growth.

“Imagine if only 10% of campers get the STEAM bug each year. That’s 500 girls,” Pepper says. “Imagine the snowball effect year after year. We’ll see the growth of STEAM careers in girls from Oklahoma.”

The sale of Camp Cookieland, cookie sales, and individual and organizational donations funded the purchase of undeveloped land. In addition, educational programming support came from a number of organizations including The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, which awarded $50,000 to supply the camp’s laboratories and STEAM activity kits.

“We recognize that today’s students are the future for agriculture and our society,” says Stacy Newman, director of philanthropy for the Noble Foundation. “We want to do everything we can to help cultivate critical thinkers who understand and appreciate agriculture and the role of science in it.”

To The Future

After her experience helping design and then attend the new camp, Thomson applied to other STEAM programs. She is a top-scoring participant of the Naval Academy summer STEAM camp and is exploring new areas of science.

“I had not been involved in STEAM until this process,” Thomson says. “My advice is to always keep going. If there’s a block in the road, keep going. You can build your abilities higher than you ever thought possible.”

Camp Trivera opened in fall 2020. Troops nationwide can use the camp for day or overnight stays, and outside groups can rent the space for events at half capacity, providing sustainable funding for the camp’s operations during COVID-19 restrictions. Large rooms and spacious acreage offer visitors the opportunity to social distance while experiencing camp. The initial challenge of losing Camp Cookieland has transformed Oklahoma Girl Scouts camp to a high-tech destination, says Thomson.

“We did it,” she adds. “And now everyone can learn at this camp for decades to come.”