Roosevelt Elementary School Fourth Grade Teacher Keri Bartley has been selected as the new Ponca City Public School 2021 District Teacher of the Year! The announcement was made at the Virtual Teacher of the Year Celebration held on August 13 in the Concert Hall. The theme this year for the TOY Celebration was the Wildcat Way.
The Celebration started with Superintendent Shelley Arrott giving the opening remarks. “As we drift along this complicated sea of emotion together, the days ahead will be full of tides, swells, high winds, and storms, but eventually, there will be sunshine, gentle breezes, and still waters. When this storm ends, we will be different people. We will be stronger educators, stronger teammates and we will appreciate the things we took for granted before.
This evening we come together to honor these teachers before us who represent the essence of great educators! Just as they have always done, they are ready for this new opportunity to grow professionally and emotionally as we love, care for, and educate our students.
Bret Smith, Executive Director of Operations, introduced the 2020 Teacher of the Year Zach Murray who talked about his year as District Teacher of the Year. At the conclusion of his speech, Bret presented him with a gift from the district.
A media presentation using the Wildcat theme was shown highlighting each TOY candidate, produced by Chris Adams, Broadcast Engineer and Mary Ladd, District Public Relations Director.
Curtis Layton, Executive Director of Human Resources, introduced this year’s nominees. As each candidate was introduced, quotes from their principal were read. Each candidate was presented a beautiful statue, along with a certificate from the district, and Chamber Bucks from the Ponca City School Foundation. Assisting with the presentations was Bret Smith, Executive Director of Operations.
Shelley Arrott and Curtis Layton made the big announcement of the 2021 District Teacher of the Year – Drum roll please – The 2021 District Teacher of the Year is Keri Bartley!
Keri Bartley made her way to the podium and said she was very humbled and honored to be selected. “My heart is full. Education is not every man for himself profession; it is everyone working together as a team. I would like to thank Superintendent Shelley Arrott for leading us during this difficult time. I can’t imagine anyone better to be leading us right now with class, dignity, and professionalism. It is obvious she has a genuine love for our schools, students, employees, and hashtags.
”I would also like to thank my Principal Ronda Merrifield for forcing me to trust myself, pushing me outside of my comfort zone, and making me a better teacher and person. I have learned something from all of my coworkers – faculty, assistants, secretaries, custodians, and lunch ladies, etc. I enjoy going to work every day.
”I don’t want to forget to thank my husband and kids. My husband never complains about me working late or on the weekends; he always supports me even when it gets crazy. My children have helped me by being patient as I figured out how to balance being a good teacher and a good mother. I pretty much hit the jackpot with Chris and my kids.
”I am also very grateful for my parents. They have both worked and/or coached in the district since 1971! Thank you for supporting me, guiding me, and helping me find the best version of me. Growing up I always thought everyone had parents like mine. Turns out – they don’t. I was just somehow blessed with an amazing family, and I am forever thankful for all they do for me.
“I received an email from a former student saying they were so excited to come back to school but they were also a little scared – but mostly excited. As teachers, that’s the way we are mostly feeling. We are excited to get back to doing what we love to do, but we are a little scared too. Scared about getting sick, scared not knowing how this year (or even tomorrow) is going to look, scared that we aren’t going to be able to get our kids to where they need to be before May. We all know that these kids, ‘our kids’ are experiencing trauma on a daily basis, and I think it is safe to say that Covid has inflicted trauma on ALL of us. The thing is, as adults, we know, or can figure out how to process it, how to mitigate it, how to help ourselves. Our kids don’t. They have been hearing for months now all about COVID-10 and the havoc it is wreaking on our society. They are hearing the arguing over the mask/no mask debate. The shaming of others for their choice to send their kids to school or to do virtual. They are feeling the racial tension that has gripped our nation. And this is ON TOP of what is going on in their daily lives. This all sounds so ‘gloom and doom’, doesn’t it? But, here’s the thing. We have the power to change that. We have the power to make the conscious choice to acknowledge our feelings and misgivings and EMBRACE our excitement and bring that excitement into the classroom every single day. We have the power to accept the fact that this is going to be an adventure. One full of moments of uncertainty, frustration, and unpreparedness. But it will also be full of fun, appreciating small moments that we may not have appreciated before, new ideas and ways of thinking. And it will be an amazing and successful year! Why? Because we are making the CHOICE for it to be that way. Point to the person in charge of you. The person in charge of your actions and your reactions. I am asking you to make a choice right now to set aside the things you cannot change, and make the CHOICE to bring hope, positivity and joy into your classroom. I’ll be honest, and I’m talking to those saints that teach our 6th graders. I’m going to go ahead and let you know that one year from now, when you have the opportunity to meet and teach the students from Mrs. Bartley’s 5th grade you will find that they may not have MASTERED all of the text structures. They may still need some help finding surface area or remembering the difference between mean, median and mode. But they will come to you after spending a year of being loved. They will come to you with a better understanding of how to handle a crisis, how to have a positive attitude in the face of adversity, knowing that working together in unity makes them stronger. How to treat others with kindness and dignity. Because as a teacher, I know that the humanity of these children is JUST as important as the academics. This can and will be a successful year for our students. As long as we understand something. I hang a graphic in my room of what success looks like this linear line, from point A to point B. But what it really looks like is a hot mess in the middle. I like to call it the HOT MESS to success. And my friends, this year that mess is going to be even bigger! And while there will be fear, and failure along this big tangled path, there will also be hope, creativity, growth, joy and love. So I hope you will make the choice to DECIDE this WILL be a successful year. It will be an adventure that our world will be talking about for years to come. And we are the people who are going to navigate and steer this ship through the storm . . . successfully! Thank you again for this honor. I am proud to be a part of this district. #gocats
Shelley Arrott and Curtis Layton presented Bartley with a $500 check from the Ponca City School Foundation, Inc. Mr. Layton also read a special Citation of Commendation from State Senator Bill Coleman and State Representative Ken Luttrell from the State of Oklahoma.
In closing, Superintendent Shelley Arrott congratulated the finalists and each site’s TOY. “Thank you so much for all you do and for continuing to be a beacon of light for our students. This year WILL BE different, but these things will NOT be different:
- The love we have for our students
- The diligence we will use to do our very best to keep everyone healthy
- Our students and staff will continue to learn
- We will get through this together as Team PCPS “We will continue to focus on the attributes of the Wildcat Way – especially Attitude and Teamwork. We will need these two attributes to face the challenge at hand.
“We are in charge of controlling our own ATTITUDE. The only thing we can control during a global pandemic is how we respond to the issues we cannot control. Our response attitude will be our only power over COVID-19. Let’s out power COVID-19 with our can do, positive attitudes!
“The other critical attribute of the WW for which we should focus is TEAMWORK. Remember, we are only as good as our team. We all will have differing opinions, but I assure you, we ALL are working toward the same goal: to keep our students safe, love them, and educate them. We are not a team because we work together … we are a team because we respect, trust, and care for one another. My team knows I love mantras. Remember this: United we Stand, Divided we Fall. WE ARE THE PONCA CITY WILDCATS and WE ARE TEAM PCPS!”
Pictured L-R: Curtis Layton, Keri Bartley, Shelley Arrott
