First Lady's Visit

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Oklahoma's First Lady visits Tulsa to support early childhood development /school readiness!

Tulsa warmly welcomed First Lady Kim Henry on October 29th.

Mrs. Henry is visiting communities throughout Oklahoma this fall to express her and the Governor's support for Oklahoma's exciting new partnerships for positive early childhood development and school readiness at the state and local levels. These have resulted from House Bill 1094, the Oklahoma Partnership for School Readiness Act, which Gov. Brad Henry signed into law in the last legislative session. The act focuses attention on the early years of children's lives, connecting the public and private sectors to promote quality early experiences.

Download "On the Road" -- a publication specially prepared for the event. It describes the program and community speakers for the First Lady's Tulsa tour, and several of Tulsa's innovative early childhood initiatives.

News story:

10/30/2003 -- Tulsa World (Final Home Edition), Page A13 of News

View in Print (PDF) Format

Oklahoma's first lady tours, touts Tulsa early education programs

First lady Kim Henry visits with Mark Twain Elementary School kindergartner Ashley Marino, 5, during a tour of the school. Henry stopped by the school as part of a visit to three early childhood development collaborative programs in Tulsa.

STEPHEN HOLMAN / Tulsa World

A remedy for head lice infestation and the improvements made in local Head Start centers were among the things Oklahoma's first lady learned Wednesday.

Kim Henry stopped in Tulsa on a statewide whistle-stop campaign to promote early childhood education programs.

Henry toured three facilities that offer preschool courses through joint efforts among several community agencies. She topped off the day with a speech at the downtown Rotary Club.

"Tulsa is really a standard-bearer for the state," Henry said. "Other communities out there are looking to Tulsa to see what is happening here.

"Your mission is twofold. You are not only addressing needs in your community, but you are pulling the rest of the state along with you."

Henry viewed the Head Start program at McClure Elementary School, 1770 E. 61st St.; the Tulsa Alliance for Families program at Mark Twain Elementary School, 541 S. 43rd West Ave.; and the Success by 6 program at the YWCA Patti Johnson Wilson Child Development Center, 1910 S. Lewis Ave.

At Mark Twain, Tulsa school board member Ruth Ann Fate told her how an absentee problem at the school due to an outbreak of head lice had been remedied.

Parents living in poverty could not afford treatments, so their children had long stays out of school while they were infested.

School employees pulled together outside resources to give parents free kits with over-the-counter products to treat head lice and instructions on how to use the products, and they explained how to prevent future outbreaks.

"That's how mundane these issues are -- these early childhood issues," Fate said.

The newly formed Tulsa County Partnership for Early Childhood Success organized the Tulsa tour to demonstrate how collaborative programs have been put into action.

At McClure, Head Start officials worked with Tulsa Public Schools administrators to build a new center next to the school.

The city of Tulsa has provided grants for the Head Start program. The United Way provides about one-fourth of the budget, and a private foundation secured a low-interest loan for the construction of the center.

Most of the Head Start students at McClure eventually will become elementary school pupils there, prompting the staffs to start developing ways to coordinate curriculum and share professional development.

"It's an incremental system with year-by-year improvements," Tulsa Superintendent David Sawyer said. "When we take a 4-year-old, we're not only providing a quality program but are committing to sustain that over time."

Henry is making stops in the 14 Oklahoma cities with a Success by 6 program.

She is a member of the Oklahoma Partnership for School Readiness board, which the Legislature created to provide state-level leadership and guidance to communities in increasing local school readiness opportunities.

Her husband, Gov. Brad Henry, signed the legislation into law this year after three consecutive losses either at the Legislature or by a veto of former Gov. Frank Keating.

Critics of the legislation called the proposal the creation of a "nanny state" and argued that it would be the first step to mandated preschool.

"A lot of resistance came because they didn't understand the program," Kim Henry said.

She said this issue is a priority for her because of her experience as a public schoolteacher in Shawnee. She resigned when her husband announced his intention to run for governor.

"I realized very early in my teaching career that everything was pivotal on early childhood," she said. "If they arrive at school ready to learn, then each of the teachers could do what they needed to do instead of going back and reteaching something they needed."

Henry said research shows that a child starting behind in first grade has a one-in-eight chance of ever catching up.

"We want to increase graduation standards and hold our kids accountable," she said. "But unless we give them the resources at the early age to meet that higher criteria, we're never going to succeed."

A goal Henry has for the state is to create a partnership to coordinate early childhood programs in each county.

The first mission for the Tulsa city-county partnership is launching JumpStart, a community engagement campaign to educate the public about early brain development and ways to provide better child care.

The program's Web site is http://www.jumpstarttulsa.com/.

Ginnie Graham - 581-8376 - ginnie.graham@tulsaworld.com

News release: (10/27/03)

First Lady Kim Henry "On the Road" Here Wednesday

Tulsa, OK – Oklahoma First Lady Kim Henry will visit three early childhood development collaborative programs in Tulsa on Wednesday morning.

Mrs. Henry’s visit in Tulsa will showcase several innovative programs designed to increase school readiness among young children and is part of the JumpStart community awareness campaign organized by the Tulsa County Partnership for Early Childhood Success.

Mrs. Henry will travel by Tulsa Public Schools bus from McClure Elementary, to Mark Twain Elementary, to the Patti Johnson Wilson YWCA Child Development Center. Afterwards she will address the Rotary Club of Tulsa. At the elementary schools and early learning center, Mrs. Henry will interact with parents, teachers and children.

Schedule:

8:00 – 9:00 McClure Elementary 1770 E. 61^st St.

Site of collaboration between Tulsa Public Schools, City of Tulsa, and Community Action Agency of Tulsa County. This Head Start site - built by CAPTC, using Community Development Block Grant funds administered by the City, on school site property leased by TPS - is a model for future early learning programs.

9:30 – 10:30 Mark Twain Elementary 541 S. 43^rd West Ave. (off Charles Page Blvd.)

Site of a collaboration between Tulsa Public Schools, Community Service Council of Greater Tulsa, Neighbors Along the Line, and Crosstown Learning Center. The Tulsa Alliance for Families (TAF) program provides school-based services to help strengthen families in the Mark Twain area. The partners have joined in a cooperative effort to deliver learning services to the community.

10:50 – 11:50 Patti Johnson Wilson Child Development Center 1910 S. Lewis Ave.

The site of a highly accredited child care center that "mentors" other centers as part of the Success by Six child care enhancement effort – an effort sponsored by the United Way of America and local partners, including Rotary Club of Tulsa. The Success by Six program is working with 31 Tulsa-area child care programs.

Noon – 1:15 p.m. Rotary Club of Tulsa (Downtown Rotary) First Methodist Church, 1115 S. Boulder

Mrs. Henry will deliver brief remarks outlining challenges Tulsa, and Oklahoma, face in early childhood success and school readiness – scheduled for approximately 12:20 p.m. Afterwards, Mrs. Henry will return to Oklahoma City.

First Lady Kim Henry has devoted much of her life to education, from her 10 years teaching in the classroom to her and her husband raising three girls. Along the way, she has been active in parenting and educational issues, and has had her own extensive education in politics, having taken a leadership role in her husband's successful gubernatorial campaign.

From a September 24th article in the Shawnee, Oklahoma News-Star about Mrs. Henry's visit to Shawnee to support the Success By 6 program:

"I can think of few things more worthwhile than reaching children early enough to give them the tools they need to learn and succeed in life," Henry said. "Children begin learning at birth. Children are born inquisitive, curious and ready to explore their world. Children who have early positive experiences grow up happier and healthier," she said. "We know that children who arrive at school ready to learn are more likely to succeed at school, to establish healthy relationships with their classmates and are more likely to graduate. Children who arrive ready to learn in school are more likely to go to college."

From another September 24th article in the Shawnee News-Star:

SHAWNEE, Okla. (AP) -- The teacher turns her back and the eighth-graders whisper. "She's the governor's wife," one girl tells a boy a few desks away.

"There's the CIA guy," says another student, pointing toward the Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper in the back of the room who guards Kim Henry -- even when she's in class.

The first lady, who taught political science and history at Shawnee High School for 10 years, is taking time out from the Capitol during one of Oklahoma's worst school funding shortages to volunteer as a substitute teacher. Henry quit her job at the high school where she and her husband were sweethearts to help him on the campaign trail.

Henry tries to keep Thursdays clear for substitute teaching, partly because she misses being in a classroom and because she wants to encourage others to volunteer. School districts are saving thousands of dollars thanks to volunteer substitutes, she said.

Oklahoma first lady Kim Henry, center, answers a question for student Amanda Ledinski, right, as Tanner Stephens, left, and Cheryl Calhoun, left center, look on, while substituting at Shawnee Middle School.

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