OK DKG CHAPTERS IN THE SPOTLIGHT
If you have a member that you would like to highlight, send information with a picture to Kathy Davis, webmaster, as well as to Beth Schieber,
The Limelighter Editor.
The Limelighter Editor.
- - Name of person(s)
- - Accomplishment
- - Brief summary
Beta Mu Chapter
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Beta Mu President, Cosette Wymer, is serving her third time as chapter president and was also recently named the Oklahoma Retired Educators Association (OREA) NW District Director. Her duties are for 3 years, and she will serve the retired educators from 13 counties. She realizes she can’t make all meetings but her goal is to attend all 13 county meetings as much as time will allow.
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Kudos to you, Cosette Wymer.
Beta Mu is proud of you! |
Alpha Chi Chapter
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Sharing DKG with Moore Public Schools 200+ new women teachers! Here President Judy King greets teachers and spreads the word about DKG. |
Beta Beta Chapter Hosts Table for Back to School Breakfast
YPS Back to School Breakfast “The Breakfast” has become a tradition that welcomes teachers and staff back to school. It is held in the gym of the new YPS High School and sponsored by Yukon Public Schools Community Education Department.
As one of our projects, members of our organization had collected school supplies for teachers and students. Upon arrival at Beta Beta’s table, each guest found a sack of back to school items: hand sanitizer, energy bar, tissues, breath mints, a comb, and school supplies. In their chair was a large notebook, decorated in the back to school spirit. Last but not least, a large bag with school supplies was hung on the back of their chairs. |
Beta Beta Members
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Oklahoma City Memorial
Watch the video highlighting Judy Birdwell King, President of Oklahoma DKG chapter Alpha Chi.
Great job Judy! www.facebook.com/okcmemorial/videos/10155469571382187/
Is It Better to Have & Lost or To Never Have?
Tammy Bray, Beta Lambda
At the first of every school year I will ask my class this question: Is it better to have loved and lost or never to have loved at all. We will discuss this and then I change it up a little. I will ask: Is it better to have had a toy and lost it, or never had the toy at all? Then I get a little deeper with: Is it better to have an arm as a child and then lose it later in life, or to never have two arms? Last, I end with: Is it better to have hearing half your life and then lose it or to have never heard?
As you can imagine, these questions spark a lot of thought and a lot of comments. As far as the “love and lost”, they will normally come to the consensus it is better to have loved and lost than to never have loved. Remember, this is coming from 7th, 8th, or 9th graders and they haven’t really experienced this type of love yet.
When I ask about the toy, they tend to believe it is better to have had it and lost it, as long as they were able to play with it for a little while.
When it comes to the arm, I get quite a different response. Some will say it is better to have had it so you could do all the things you need two arms for and then you could adapt with only one arm later on. Some will say it would be better to have never had it, so you would never really miss it or know what life would be like with two arms. At this point I know they are ready to move on to the last one.
Is it better to have hearing half your life and then lose it? Or to never have heard? Again, like the arm, I will get both sides and they both have legitimate reasons. Then, I hit them with the truth.
I was born hearing, made it through my childhood and teen years, and then at age 27 I lost most of it. I am severally hearing impaired. I wear hearing aids, and with those, I still only hear about 80% of what people with normal hearing will hear. When I was first diagnosed with hearing loss, I was denied hearing aids. I also had to quit my phone operator job. For three years I lived in a very quiet world. The hard part was during this time, I gave birth to my second child and third child. I missed both of my babies’ first words and decided something had to change.
I finally convinced a doctor to give me some hearing amplifiers. If you have ever used these, you know they do not bring in good quality. As a matter of fact, they were pretty much useless. However, they did give me the confidence to go back to college. I enrolled in two summer courses just to see if I could handle the situation. I spent a lot of time listening to recorded lectures at home where I could turn the volume up to the full extent and going to the professor’s offices after class, but I ended that semester with a 4.0 GPA, which was better than the GPA I had when I went to college right out of high school.
Now all I had to do was find the money to go to college full-time. When I realized this was going to be my Achilles heal, I broke down crying to my mom. She grabbed both of my hands and told me we were going to pray about it and God would work it all out. Sure enough, He did. I was told I could go to the Oklahoma Rehab and they would assist me because I had a disability.
Well, being deaf is definitely a disability when you have two small children at home; however, the state of Oklahoma says it is not, due to the fact hearing loss is normal for the elderly and they cannot age discriminate. I started to cry and the case worker said, “Well, honey we cannot classify you as disabled, but we can assist with your education if you would like to go back to school and learn a new trade.” I told him that was all I wanted from the beginning. He apologized for the miscommunication and I started college the next week!
I am proud to say I kept that 4.0 GPA all the way through my next three years of college. After the first semester, I found a hearing aid place that would fit me with real hearing aids and even though my children were now 3 and 5, it was still a blessing to be able to hear every word they said.
For 13 years now I have taught with this hearing impairment. I let my students know they need to be sure I am looking at them when they speak and to touch my arm if they need my attention. My students have always been very understanding and very respectful about my situation. Since my first day in the classroom, I have believed I would teach until I die. Now, that may change.
I went to the doctor last week and the look on her face when she looked into my right ear let me know something bad is going to happen. She said she saw three perforations in my eardrum and my eardrum membrane is drying up. She couldn’t really give me any more information, but told me to get to an ENT ASAP. From what I have Googled I may suffer from more hearing loss. Unfortunately, there’s not much left to lose, but if I lose what I have left, my hearing aids will no longer help. I will be deaf.
The first question I thought was “How will I teach?” Mr. Shoup, my superintendent for many years, once said, “I hate to see a teacher not be able to do what she loves to do,” in reference to a teacher who had had a stroke. Fortunately, she recovered and was able to continue her dream.
So, is it better to have heard and lost it, or to never have heard at all? Sometimes I think it would be better to have never heard. I heard my oldest son’s first words, but not the next two, so I know what I was missed and it still hurts. On the other hand, I have heard my student’s responses to my teaching, and I can’t imagine ever giving that up. So, I guess I don’t have the answer to this one.
Tammy Bray, Beta Lambda
At the first of every school year I will ask my class this question: Is it better to have loved and lost or never to have loved at all. We will discuss this and then I change it up a little. I will ask: Is it better to have had a toy and lost it, or never had the toy at all? Then I get a little deeper with: Is it better to have an arm as a child and then lose it later in life, or to never have two arms? Last, I end with: Is it better to have hearing half your life and then lose it or to have never heard?
As you can imagine, these questions spark a lot of thought and a lot of comments. As far as the “love and lost”, they will normally come to the consensus it is better to have loved and lost than to never have loved. Remember, this is coming from 7th, 8th, or 9th graders and they haven’t really experienced this type of love yet.
When I ask about the toy, they tend to believe it is better to have had it and lost it, as long as they were able to play with it for a little while.
When it comes to the arm, I get quite a different response. Some will say it is better to have had it so you could do all the things you need two arms for and then you could adapt with only one arm later on. Some will say it would be better to have never had it, so you would never really miss it or know what life would be like with two arms. At this point I know they are ready to move on to the last one.
Is it better to have hearing half your life and then lose it? Or to never have heard? Again, like the arm, I will get both sides and they both have legitimate reasons. Then, I hit them with the truth.
I was born hearing, made it through my childhood and teen years, and then at age 27 I lost most of it. I am severally hearing impaired. I wear hearing aids, and with those, I still only hear about 80% of what people with normal hearing will hear. When I was first diagnosed with hearing loss, I was denied hearing aids. I also had to quit my phone operator job. For three years I lived in a very quiet world. The hard part was during this time, I gave birth to my second child and third child. I missed both of my babies’ first words and decided something had to change.
I finally convinced a doctor to give me some hearing amplifiers. If you have ever used these, you know they do not bring in good quality. As a matter of fact, they were pretty much useless. However, they did give me the confidence to go back to college. I enrolled in two summer courses just to see if I could handle the situation. I spent a lot of time listening to recorded lectures at home where I could turn the volume up to the full extent and going to the professor’s offices after class, but I ended that semester with a 4.0 GPA, which was better than the GPA I had when I went to college right out of high school.
Now all I had to do was find the money to go to college full-time. When I realized this was going to be my Achilles heal, I broke down crying to my mom. She grabbed both of my hands and told me we were going to pray about it and God would work it all out. Sure enough, He did. I was told I could go to the Oklahoma Rehab and they would assist me because I had a disability.
Well, being deaf is definitely a disability when you have two small children at home; however, the state of Oklahoma says it is not, due to the fact hearing loss is normal for the elderly and they cannot age discriminate. I started to cry and the case worker said, “Well, honey we cannot classify you as disabled, but we can assist with your education if you would like to go back to school and learn a new trade.” I told him that was all I wanted from the beginning. He apologized for the miscommunication and I started college the next week!
I am proud to say I kept that 4.0 GPA all the way through my next three years of college. After the first semester, I found a hearing aid place that would fit me with real hearing aids and even though my children were now 3 and 5, it was still a blessing to be able to hear every word they said.
For 13 years now I have taught with this hearing impairment. I let my students know they need to be sure I am looking at them when they speak and to touch my arm if they need my attention. My students have always been very understanding and very respectful about my situation. Since my first day in the classroom, I have believed I would teach until I die. Now, that may change.
I went to the doctor last week and the look on her face when she looked into my right ear let me know something bad is going to happen. She said she saw three perforations in my eardrum and my eardrum membrane is drying up. She couldn’t really give me any more information, but told me to get to an ENT ASAP. From what I have Googled I may suffer from more hearing loss. Unfortunately, there’s not much left to lose, but if I lose what I have left, my hearing aids will no longer help. I will be deaf.
The first question I thought was “How will I teach?” Mr. Shoup, my superintendent for many years, once said, “I hate to see a teacher not be able to do what she loves to do,” in reference to a teacher who had had a stroke. Fortunately, she recovered and was able to continue her dream.
So, is it better to have heard and lost it, or to never have heard at all? Sometimes I think it would be better to have never heard. I heard my oldest son’s first words, but not the next two, so I know what I was missed and it still hurts. On the other hand, I have heard my student’s responses to my teaching, and I can’t imagine ever giving that up. So, I guess I don’t have the answer to this one.
Oklahoma City Public Schools Foundation Names Outstanding Principal for 2017-2018!
Margaret Saunders-Simpson was recently awarded the Outstanding Principal for OKCPS
by the OKCPS Foundation. Margaret is the principal at Johnson Elementary and a member
of Alpha Mu chapter. Congratulations Margaret!
Margaret Saunders-Simpson was recently awarded the Outstanding Principal for OKCPS
by the OKCPS Foundation. Margaret is the principal at Johnson Elementary and a member
of Alpha Mu chapter. Congratulations Margaret!
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KUDOS TO Beta Mu member Geraldine Burns-Maycumber
Geraldine Burns-Maycumber began her teaching career in Edmond and moved to Fairview, her home town, in 1949. She taught English for 44 year and retired in 1988. She earned her Bachelors in 1944 at Phillips University in Enid. She was Oklahoma Teacher of the Year in 1987. Her three generations of teaching English in Fairview educated a community and instilled an appreciation for correct written communication skills. Still today students speak of respect for what they learned in Mrs. Burn’s class. She was a charter member of Beta Mu Chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma International Society. During her leadership, Beta Mu’s membership served at full capacity. Nelly Chamberlain, a teacher at Fairview Elementary for 46 years, introduced Mrs. Burns to her first DKG meeting in Enid where Chamberlain was a member. In her semi-retirement, she attends Alumni gatherings every summer to visit with past students, lea the Hospital Volunteers at the Fairview Regional Medical Center, has served a Mission Mentor for Fairview Public Schools, has served as an officer for the Major County Retired Educators where she has headed the development of the Major County Rural School History Collection, has also maintained the historical scrapbooks for the Fairview Central Christian Church and continued to attend DKG meetings when she can. Geraldine Burns-Maycomber was born in 1922 and will celebrate her 96th birthday April 15th. |
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It’s not every day you get to meet someone with over 60 years of Girl Scouting experience, especially an involved troop leader. Pam Harding isn’t your typical leader, but after celebrating her 70th birthday last week, she doesn’t plan on slowing down as she takes on her 15th year as troop leader of Troop 4097 in Bokoshe, Oklahoma. This veteran Girl Scout has had a lot to celebrate in her lifetime, including the biggest milestones in Girl Scout history. In 1962, she spent the 50th anniversary of Girl Scouting at the Girl Scout Roundup in Vermont, where over 10,000 Girl Scouts from all over the world gathered, and spent the 100th anniversary as a troop leader in 2012. Can you guess how many of her granddaughters Pam has had in her troop? Find out here: http://bit.ly/GSprofiles
Pam is a member of Beta Lambda. |
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OKC Energy FC is proud to present the Devon Energy STEM Teacher of the Match.. Lori Richardson is a STEM teacher at Sequoyah Elementary in Oklahoma City. Lori will be honored at halftime of the Energy Match with Salt Lake on August 5th. Lori also serves as the 2nd Vice President for the DKG Oklahoma Organization and a member of Alpha chapter. Posted August 5, 2017 |
Publications
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Dr. Barbara McClanahan, Beta Kappa
Congratulations! Your Article "Transforming Teacher Education with Digital Technology: An Informative Journey" will be included in the 2017, Volume 83-5 issue of the The Delta Kappa Gamma Bulletin: Journal. Posted August 5, 2017 |
Eileen Richardson, Alpha Pi
Congratulations! Your Article "Graphic Novels Are Real Books: Comparing Graphic Novels to Traditional Text Novels" will be included in the 2017, Volume 83-5 issue of the The Delta Kappa Gamma Bulletin: Journal. Posted August 5, 2017 |
We look forward to reading these publications in The Delta Kappa Gamma Bulletin: Journal.
Updated: January 2019