Laura Boren

Age and/or Generation - I am in my 40's.

Current Job(s) - I serve as Vice President for Student Affairs at NSU.

Former Job(s) - Dean of Students, Assistant to the Associate VP for Student Affairs/Dean of Students, Coordinator for Leadership and Extended Orientation Programs, Student Development Specialist, Director of Student Activities, Catering Sales Manager

Education and/or Training - Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration, M.S. in Student Personnel Services, BBA in Meetings and Destination Management

Greatest Professional Accomplishment - I am struggling with this question.  At this point in my life, the lessons I've learned through my career successes and failures have become most valuable to me. 

Areas of Expertise - I am passionate about higher education law and policy, student development, leadership, civic engagement, and TQM. 

Hometown - I consider Tahlequah my hometown.  My parents moved back and forth between Perkins, OK and Stillwater, OK when I was growing up.  I graduated from Stillwater High School.

Other Towns of Residence - My husband and I have lived in Tulsa and Bryan/College Station, Tx.

Family - My husband, Shane, and I will celebrate our 18th wedding anniversary in June.  We have two children, Cooper age 6 and Elle age 7 months.  Yes, we waited a long time before having children.

Hobbies - I am happiest when I am spending time with my family and friends.  I love to entertain guests at our home.  I enjoy working in my flowerbeds.  I love to read books.  I enjoy shopping and treating myself to mani/pedicures and messages.  Someday I want to learn how to oil paint.  Oh, I also love to drink coffee!

The Role of Mentors in Your Life - Mentors have shaped my entire life.  I believe that our paths intentionally cross with individuals at the most crucial times in our lives.  My mentors have been men and women, young and old.  Mentors have pushed me to be more than I thought I could be.  Mentors have believed in me when I didn't believe in myself.  Mentors have helped me figure out my professional values.  Mentors have inspired me to learn more. 

Favorite Quotation - "The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others." - Mahatma Gandhi 

Lacey Horn

Generation

Generation Y

Current Job

Treasurer, Cherokee Nation

Former Jobs

HORN CPA, KPMG, Hunt Oil

Education and Credentials

Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX

Bachelor’s in Business Administration, Financial Consulting

Master’s of Science in Accounting

Certified Public Accountant

Chartered Global Management Accountant

Greatest Professional Accomplishment        

Striking a balance between motherhood and work-life.

Areas of Expertise

Accounting, Finance, Business

Hometown

Vian, OK

Other Towns of Residence

Dallas and Chicago

Family

Husband and son

Hobbies

Yoga, pilates, swimming, painting and reading

The Role of Mentors in Your Life

I have been blessed with countless mentors in my life, both women and men, but I will focus on a few of the women who shaped my life. My mother is a nurse practitioner. Throughout my life, I have witnessed her commitment to changing lives for the better through her work. My 91-year old grandma still works to this day, and living by her example pushes me forward to make every day count. Growing up, my Sunday school teacher taught God’s word by living it.  In high school, I had two teachers that encouraged me to be myself. KPMG had a formal mentoring program and my mentor was Russian. She challenged me to make myself better. It was tough at times, but looking back, I value and appreciate that experience so much. If it weren’t for these outstanding women acting as personal and professional role-models in my life, I would not be the person I am today.

Jo Prout

Age and/or Generation: 
68  (a World War II baby)

Current Job(s): 
Executive Director, CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) of Cherokee Country, Tahlequah, since March, 2002

Former Job(s): 
Executive Director, Tahlequah Area Chamber of Commerce. 1990-1999
Executive Director, YWCA of Palm Beach County, Florida, 1980-1989
Secondary Teacher (8th grade American History), Florida, 1966-1970

Education and/or Training: 
I am a proud, positive product of public education in the states of Texas, Oklahoma, Ohio, New York, and Alabama. 

BA in American Studies from Wesleyan College (for women), Macon, Georgia.

I am a graduate of Leadership Oklahoma, Class VII; a graduate of the Oklahoma Institute for Non-profit Leadership; and a graduate of the State Chamber Executive Leadership Program.

From 1991 through 2004 I served on six Tahlequah non-profit boards of directors for different lengths of time, serving as secretary or president several times.

Greatest Professional Accomplishment:  
This is difficult to answer because I have been a catalyst for change and improvement in each place I served as a non-profit administrator; however, I would probably say my greatest accomplishments came while I was at the Chamber of Commerce. 

As the director of the Tahlequah Area Chamber of Commerce from 1990 - 1999, I was pleased to improve the image of the Chamber and restore public confidence in the Chamber by adding 18 new programs and services to the program of work, including Shop Tahlequah First, Legislative Focus,    Leadership Tahlequah (the program of which I'm most proud), and Illinois River BalloonFest.  Chamber membership increased by 120 members, the annual operating budget increased from $51,000 to $121,000, media coverage throughout the area boosted tourism revenue in the county, and Tahlequah sales tax revenues increased annually. The physical offices of the Chamber, which had been located in the Cherokee Capitol on the square for many years, were moved to their present location at the corner of Delaware St. and Water Ave. in 1994 after negotiations with Bank IV to make a gift of the building to the Chamber.

My work at CASA of Cherokee Country has also been most gratifying.  When I was hired as the director of CASA in early 2002, the program was operating on a part-time basis, there was $300 in the bank, and fund raising activities consisted of yard sales.  Although the program was six years old, very few individuals in the community knew about CASA and its mission to train volunteers to advocate for the best interests of abused and neglected children in Cherokee County District Court, Adair County District Court, and Cherokee Nation Tribal Court.  Today, after continuous efforts to keep CASA's name in front of area residents through newspapers articles, radio advertising, and community-wide fund raising events, CASA is a full-time program and is a much more familiar name in the community; an endowment exists in the amount of $95,000, and a reserve account exists in the amount of $25,000.  CASA of Cherokee Country has trained hundreds of men and women who have been advocates for hundreds of young victims of abuse and neglect.  The recruitment and retention of volunteer child advocates continues to be the greatest challenge of my position along with identifying, acquiring, and maintaining sufficient operating revenue.

Areas of Expertise: 
Leadership, public speaking, board training, non-profit management, publicity/promotion, organization and implementation of special events.

Hometown: 
Born in Muskogee, OK, the first of two daughters, while father was flying bomber missions in the Pacific Theater during World War II. 

Other Towns of Residence: 
In 1945, at war's end, my parents began the nomadic life required of a career Air Force officer's family, moving roughly every three years to a new post.  Our family lived in the following locations:  Victoria, Texas; Muskogee, OK; Columbus, Ohio; Cornwall-on-Hudson, New York; Montgomery, Alabama.  My parents also lived in Paris, France; southern England; Belleville, Illinois; Misawa, Japan; and Colorado Springs, Colorado.

During my college years my parents lived in Paris,France, and at Mildenhall Air Force Base, England, so I flew to Europe for summer visits.  As a young bride, I was fortunate to spend time in Japan with my parents, enjoying, among many other things, the 1970 World's Fair.

Family: 
Parents:  My father, John W. Bogan, was born in Wapanucka, Oklahoma, in 1920, the third of 14 children born to George and Lula Bogan.  Daddy earned a BS in Economics from Oklahoma A & M (now Oklahoma State University) in Stillwater.  Although my father's mother was Choctaw, his family was never interested in the Native American bloodline, and consequently, no one knows the Choctaw blood quantum.

My mother, Nannie M. Vann, was born on Cherokee allotment land along the Canadian River in the Webbers Falls, Oklahoma, area, in 1919, fourth of five children born to Frank and Polly Vann.  Mother earned a BS in Home Economics at Oklahoma A & M where she and my father met and fell in love.  My mother's parents were both Cherokee citizens registered on the Dawes Rolls.  My maternal grandfather was a direct descendant of James Vann, a Cherokee chief and plantation owner in Spring Hill, Georgia. The Chief Vann House is a Georgia Historic Site on the National Register of Historic Places.  My Cherokee blood quantum is 5/32.

My parents married following graduation from Oklahoma A & M in 1942, and when they came out of a matinee movie one afternoon in Muskogee and heard the newspaper boy calling out that the United States had declared war on Japan, my father swung my mother up in the air and said, "Honey, I'm gonna' learn to fly an airplane!"  And he did. 

When I was three years old my sister, Linda, nicknamed Cooki, was born.  Cooki's sophomore year in college was spent living with a French family while she attended the American University in Paris.  Cooki was killed at age 19 in an automobile accident in England that nearly took the life of my mother, as well.  They were driving from Mildenhall Air Force Base to Stratford-on-Avon to see one last Shakespearean play before returning to the States.  An oversized British tank transporter was traveling toward the base, and swung wide to make a curve on the narrow, two-lane road, crashing headlong into the Peugeot my mother was driving.  Taken for dead, both Mother and Cooki were transported to a nearby hospital.  A candy striper was sent to the morgue to take information off the medical bracelet placed on Mother's wrist in the ambulance and was startled to realize she could feel a pulse.  Mother required extensive surgeries through several months, but lived a long, full life, passing away in 2011 at age 92.

My parents moved back to their home state of Oklahoma when my father retired from the Air Force, finding a lovely home on property just outside of Tahlequah. Eight years later my father died of a rare disease at age 64.  No doctors in Tahlequah nor at the VA Hospital in Muskogee could figure out what was wrong as he began to lose muscle control.  Following a stroke, he was hospitalized at Tahlequah City Hospital and the VA Hospitalin Muskogee for four months.  Upon his death, an autopsy was performed which revealed that Daddy died of Creutzfeldt–Jakob Disease, a slow-acting human strain of mad cow disease, very likely contracted by eating tainted beef while fighting in the Pacific Theater during World War II. 

Marriage & Children:
When I graduated from Wesleyan College in 1966, I was a certified secondary teacher.  My first teaching position was at a junior high school in a paper mill town, Springfield, Florida, a bedroom community to Panama City, Florida.  My take-home check each month was $250 and I had plenty of money to put gas in my Volkswagen Beetle, pay rent on an apartment, buy food and clothes! 

At the end of that first year of teaching, I married, and my husband and I moved to West Palm Beach, Florida.  The marriage lasted only a short time, but brought me a lively, chubby baby boy, Kyle.  When Kyle was 18 months old, we were divorced.  Then Hedley Prout and I married in 1973 and shared a full, exciting life together for 32 years.  He was an architect of great skill who traveled throughout south Florida to manage large projects such as schools, condominiums, hospitals, etc. 

A young lady who lived next door to us when Kyle was a youngster became Kyle's regular babysitter.  She was living with an aunt because her mother had died a year earlier.  She was soon spending more and more time with our family, learning to cook and participating in family activities.  When she was 17, Bern (short for Bernadette) moved into our lives on a permanent basis.  Our family has been deeply enriched by her becoming a family member.  She attended and graduated from my alma mater, Wesleyan College, spent four years in the U.S. Navy, and settled in Atlanta, Georgia.  Hedley and I formally adopted Bern when she was 42 years old, after Hedley began experiencing serious health problems and we were all concerned that there might come a time that she would be denied access to him if he were hospitalized unless she was a family member.


I was hired as the director of the Tahlequah Area Chamber of Commerce and we moved from West Palm Beach to Tahlequah in summer, 1990.

We learned that Hedley was suffering from congestive heart failure in 2001; in 2003 he suffered a massive stroke that required extensive rehabilitation.  He died of a heart attack in 2005 as he and Bern and I were preparing to watch a movie on television.

Kyle, an independent insurance agent, is married and living in Tahlequah.  He and wife, Sherry, have three sons:  Erik, age 18; Zack, age 8; and Kyler, age 7.  I do love being Gramma Jo!

Hobbies: 
Reading, needlework, plants, cats (I have three: Simon Sez, Miss Java, and Gus-Gus)

The Role of Mentors in My Life:
There have been many strong women pass through my life who have inspired and encouraged me, but a couple stand out:  In college, my history professor and student advisor, Dr. Leah Strong, convinced me that although recognition comes easily to some, we owe it to ourselves and others to strive harder, stretch farther, and produce more, that the adage "To whom much is given, much is expected" is an inescapable daily challenge; my mother's sister, my dear Aunt Coowee, reminded me often of the strength of our Cherokee ancestry and pushed me to embrace that legacy. 

The most powerful mentor in my life was my mother, who, until her death, was the wind beneath my wings as I encountered challenging experiences, painful experiences, rewarding experiences.  She mentored not only through words, but by example, exhibiting a never-give-up attitude despite disabling physical difficulties.  She was my bright star, a shining example of graciousness coupled with strength, demonstrating the courage to stand and face a problem rather than run from it, turning a deaf ear and a blind eye to malicious, hurtful words and behaviors, and calmly and lovingly refusing to compromise her principles.  I shall forever be grateful for her love and support that held me up as I achieved goals that often appeared beyond my reach.   

Favorite Quotation:
"All that is necessary for evil to prevail is that good men do nothing." 
 -  Edmund Burke  

Mary McMillen

Age and/or Generation

36 y/0--GenXer

Current Job(s)

I'm a solo-practicing attorney in Tulsa.  I have an office in the Mid-Continent Tower on 4th and Boston, and I primarily practice criminal defense.  I also do estate planning and family law.

Former Job(s)

I taught freshman level English courses at Northeastern State University (Tahlequah campus) for seven years.  It was a great job, and I truly loved every single minute of teaching.  My favorite part of teaching at the college level was the ability to interact with so many students.  

While in college, I had many jobs on campus.  I worked for the NSU parking and traffic office (processing tickets; not writing them), NSU Veteran Education Services, North Leoser computer labs, and the College of Arts and Letters (before it became the College of Liberal Arts/COLA) as assistant to the English Department Chair.  Off campus, I had jobs all over Tahlequah.  My favorite off-campus job was working for David and Jack Spears at Arrowhead Camp on the Illinois River.

Education and/or Training

I hold a Bachelor's in English, a Master's in English, and Juris Doctor degree.  Both English degrees are from NSU, and I earned my Juris Doctor degree at the University of Tulsa College of Law.

Greatest Professional Accomplishment

I'm still working toward my greatest professional accomplishment.  Thus far, my greatest professional accomplishment is probably getting the education I needed to enter my chosen career field.  My education is what allows me to be part of the discourse going on within my professional community.

Areas of Expertise

Criminal law and legal research.

Hometown

Stigler, Oklahoma

Other Towns of Residence

Bakersfield, California; Tahlequah, Oklahoma

Family

Married, three kids, one brother, two sisters, two sisters-in-law, two brothers-in-law, two nieces, five nephews, one great-nephew--the usual accumulation of people who keep me headed in the right direction.

Hobbies

I enjoy gardening, cooking, reading, and knitting.

The Role of Mentors in Your Life

Mentors have played a great role in my life.  Jackie Wilcox (professor emeritus at NSU and my former boss at NSU) has been my most influential mentor.  Over these past fourteen years, Jackie never wavered in her support and encouragement.  She truly helped shape me into the person I am today, and I am grateful that she is part of my life.

As a student, my mentors helped me find the confidence to carry on, gave me insights to help me understand where I was going, and proudly stood beside me when I finally found my way.  I am grateful for all the mentors who've been part of my journey.

Favorite Quotation

"Dreams are the touchstones of our character."  H.D. Thoreau

Margaret Cook, JD

Margaret Cook, J.D.

Age and/or Generation:  40's

Current Job:  Executive Director, Help-In-Crisis, Inc.

Former Job(s):  Supervisor of Home Visitation Program, Child Advocate for Domestic Violence shelter

Education and/or Training:  Law Degree from University of Tulsa, Music Degree from Southwest Baptist University, Music Therapy Degree from Southwestern State University.

Greatest Professional Accomplishment:  Graduated from Law School while raising 2 children and working part-time.

Areas of Expertise:  Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault, Child Abuse, and Prevention

Family:  married, two grown step-sons, two children at home, three grandchildren

Hobbies:  knitting, crocheting, flower gardens

Role of Mentors in my life:  I wouldn't be where I am today without the consistent support of some very strong women in my life.

Favorite Quotations:  Nothing is more difficult, and therefore more precious, than to be able to decide." Napoleon Bonaparte; "And in the end, it is Not the years in your life that count.  It's the Life in your years."  Abraham Lincoln;  "Live in such a way, that if anyone should speak badly of you, no one would believe it." Anonymous; "Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.  I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be.  This is the interrelated structure of reality."  Martin Luther King, Jr.  

Kristen Thomas

Age: 28

Current Job(s): Program manager, Northeastern State University
                           Regional College Outreach, Cherokee Nation

Former Job(s): Cherokee Cultural/Language Specialist

Education: BA Cherokee Studies, Northeastern State University

Greatest Professional Accomplishment: My greatest professional accomplishment is being greeted in Cherokee by a young child. Another is seeing a first generation college student receive his/her diploma.

Areas of Expertise: Language Revitalization and Cherokee Culture
 

Hometown: Tahlequah, OK 

Other Towns of Residence: Tulsa, OK 

Family: I come from two large, wonderful families. My husband and I have one daughter. She's training to rule the world.

Hobbies: I enjoy toddler wrangling, basket weaving, being outdoors and traveling. 
 

The Role of Mentors in Your Life: Aside from my mother and grandmother, my first role model was Wilma Mankiller. From these women, I've learned sacrifice and leadership.
 

Favorite Quotation: “Everybody can be great...because anybody can serve.”
- Martin Luther King Jr.

Lara Searcy

 

Age and/or Generation: about to join the "thirty-somethings"

Current Job(s): Literacy Resource Specialist at Tahlequah Middle School

Former Job(s): HS English Teacher (9th & 10th grades); Adjunct Teacher at NSU (Learning Styles & Technology)

Education and/or Training: B.A. Secondary Education, English; M.Ed in Teaching, English; National Board Certified Teacher (AYA-ELA)

Greatest Professional Accomplishment: Becoming a NBCT! 

Areas of Expertise: English Education and Structure= Folder Organization! ;) However, I am quickly becoming an "expert" in the unknown transition of Oklahoma P.A.S.S. objectives to Common Core State Standards.

Hometown: Tulsa, OK

Family: I live in Tahlequah with my “high-school sweetheart,” Brian, my son, Blake (6months), and our 3 dogs- Daisy (a shepherd mix), Lily (a border collie mix), & Ivy (a shepherd mix). Brian works at NSU as an Academic Advisor and he is a great listener, speaker, and drinker of coffee. 

I have an older brother, Justin, who works in Oxford, England; a twin sister, Lesley, who lives in New Jersey and works with International/Abroad programs; and a younger stepbrother who is in HS in Tulsa. My parents both work for colleges– my mom and stepdad live in Kansas City, MO and my dad lives in Tulsa, OK. 

Hobbies: My hobbies include: reading (especially by my pool), writing, hiking, kayaking, and playing w/ my pups! My favorite books are Pride & Prejudice and To Kill a Mockingbird.

The Role of Mentors in Your Life: I am the cliche of "it takes a village to raise a [teacher]" because there are many teachers who have shaped my own journey to the podium. To be a teacher is to instill hope, passion, perseverance, patience, and a love for learning in others. These are the attributes my own teachers have taught me which is why I am a teacher today. 

My journey to the podium began with my second grade teacher, Mrs. Pat Leader. She gave me the gift of hope by turning my "make-believe" classroom into a reality. I was never the kid who played with barbies or toys, I played school. I wanted paper, markers, and a chalkboard for Christmas. I had a room full of highly educated stuffed animals. I had a working intercom, a name on my door, and chalk on my hands. Mrs. Leader recognized my love for learning early on and provided me with real worksheets and real "teacher" responsibilities to enhance my experience. She trusted me with the task of writing the D.O.L. (grammar) lesson on the board every day before school for the rest of my elementary career. This instilled in me the value of hope... that one day I would become a real teacher and I would have a real classroom. 

In middle school, Mrs. Janet Thomas showed me how to have passion when you teach. She was passionate about history and making it applicable and relevant to her students. She dressed up for the time period, created reenactment lessons, and again acknowledged the teacher within me by giving me responsibilities as her student aide. She instilled within me the attribute of passion and showed me how to really love what you teach. 

My teaching journey continued in high school when I had the fortune to befriend a dynamic pair of teachers, Ms. Krista Baxter (now Waldron) and Mr. John Waldron. They both taught me the lesson of perseverance, by challenging me as a thinker, as a writer, as a reader, and still today as an educator. I am proud to now call them my friends and to share this task of "education" with them. 

In college, as I began the true process of becoming a teacher, I was blessed to take my Secondary English Methods class with Ms. Lori Walker which has forever shaped my path to the podium and where I am today. The true lesson she taught me is of patience, that those people who you meet early in life can indeed change your life. Ms. Walker has been my mentor teacher not just officially as I interned and began my teaching career in her school, but as a classmate during our Masters, as an encourager as I pursued National Board Certification, and as a reference for my future career endeavors. Ms. Walker is the epitome of a storyteller as she has lived a life of lessons. Due to this, she teaches by example and has shown me that truly caring for your students and listening to their stories is the greatest teaching method of all. 

I am also grateful for the mentorship of Kim Meigs as she has been the biggest advocate and encourager of my professional development. As my mentor teacher during my first year of teaching and now as one of my dearest friends, she has taught me the power of friendship and of being a voice in education. Through her recommendations and belief in my success, I have been given numerous professional experiences that are molding me into a more well-rounded and better educated woman. She is the strongest person I know and her life story is one of triumph, healing, and redemption. I am just as proud of her as she is of me!

Finally, I am continuing my relationship with two of my favorite college teachers/mentors through this Mentoring program, Dr. Amy Aldridge Sanford and Dr. Renee Cambiano. Both of these strong women educators have invested in my life and in my career which has given me the support I have needed to be a successful educator. They have spoken words of encouragement, given experiential advice, provided opportunities for leadership, and have modeled to me that showing that you believe in your students and will partner with them is a key to success. I am fortunate to stay in contact with them and to continue learning from them. I know that my journey to the podium would not have been as prosperous without their direct guidance and influence. I am grateful for the interest they have taken in me and in my own students. Teaching truly becomes a "discipleship" process.

All of my teachers have taught me the lesson of being a life-long, perpetual learner. As I attended Mrs. Leader's retirement party- the same year I started my own teaching career- as I get ready to say "goodbye" to Ms. Walker for her retirement, and as I become the "mentor" with my own mentors, Amy and Renee, I see so clearly the full circle effect teachers have on their students. Teaching is the ultimate "pay it forward" career, but it is also a "thankless" job. So it's true, the students really do become the teachers and now that I am a teacher, I am grateful for the opportunity to say "thank you" and to hopefully return the favor... to share the hope, passion, perseverance, patience, and love for learning that others have shared with me. "I am a teacher because THEY were..."

My Masters "Stand & Deliver" with my College Mentors!

Favorite Quotations: 

"I have come to believe that a great teacher is a great artist and that there are as few as there are any other great artists. Teaching might even be the greatest of the arts since the medium is the human mind and spirit." (-John Steinbeck)

"When I look back, I am so impressed again with the life-giving power of literature. If I were a young person today, trying to gain a sense of myself in the world, I would do that again by reading, just as I did when I was young. (-Maya Angelou)

"Teachers never die. They live in your memory forever. They were there when you arrived; they were there when you left... like fixtures. Once in awhile, they taught you something-- but not that often. And, you never really knew them; any more than they knew you. Still, for awhile, you believed in them. And, if you were lucky, maybe there was one that believed in you..." (-The Wonder Years)

"I go to the woods- to feel good. I go to the river- to let my mind run. I go to the mountains- to gain perspective. I go the fields- to open up. I look to the lake- to reflect. I look to the skies- to imagine. I travel highways- to go somewhere new. I go to the woods..." (-Patchouli)

"The greatness of a nation can be judged by the way its animals are treated." (-Mahatma Gandhi)

"...the journey is the destination..."