CareerTech instructor named Teacher of the Year
A family and consumer science teacher at Elgin High School has been named the 2025 Oklahoma State Teacher of the Year.
Melissa Evon, who began her teaching career in 1992, is also the Elgin adviser for Family, Career and Community Leaders of America, the CareerTech student organization affiliated with family and consumer sciences education.
She was chosen from nine finalists for the award.
Read more on the Oklahoma State Department of Education website.
CareerTech refigures state funding formula
Oklahoma CareerTech has reworked the formula it uses to appropriate funds to state technology center districts. The state board approved the change in June.
The change will help districts with growing enrollment and stagnant local funding, CareerTech State Director Brent Haken told the Tulsa World.
The formula accounts for local revenue, the number of campuses a tech center has, program delivery costs and the number of high school juniors and seniors enrolled in the programs.
“The goal is to provide equity across the state of Oklahoma to the schools that have the greatest need based off of the number of programs that serve students,” Haken told the newspaper.
Read more on the Tulsa World website.
Oklahoma SkillsUSA finishes at the top at national conference
Oklahoma SkillsUSA students brought home 39 gold medals from the 60th National Leadership and Skills Conference, putting the Oklahoma contingent in first place in the country for gold medal recipients.
“This outstanding accomplishment reflects the world-class preparation and determination of Oklahoma’s career and technology education students,” said Kendra Alcala, state SkillsUSA adviser with Oklahoma CareerTech.
The Oklahoma delegation earned a total of 66 medals at the conference in Atlanta, Georgia, putting it in third place in the nation for total medal count, and brought home a national officer as well.
Memphis Hixson, a postsecondary precision machining student at Canadian Valley Technology Center, was elected as a SkillsUSA postsecondary national officer for 2025-26.
Read more on the Oklahoma CareerTech website.
Dewey grad wins $10,000 FFA scholarship
Jacob Simpson, a recent Dewey High School graduate and member of the Dewey FFA chapter, as received one of 10 $10,000 FFA scholarships sponsored by Domino’s.
Simpson has served as president of Dewey FFA and attended the Washington Leadership Conference. He launched a podcast, “I Believe TV,” as part of his Supervised Agricultural Experience project.
He plans to attend Oklahoma State University and pursue a career in agricultural education and the military.
Read more on the Fox 23 News website.
CV Tech graduate interns at NASA
A Canadian Valley Technology Center graphic design graduate is spending her summer as an intern at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center on Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama.
Lindsay Loeffelholz entered CV Tech’s graphic design program as a high school senior and completed it as young adult in spring 2022. This summer, she is working as a payload development graphic design intern for NASA.
“I am designing graphic charts and data analysis visuals for any specific payload that is going to be used for the Artemis/Gateway projects and beyond,” she said.
While Loeffelholz was at CV Tech, she was also a member of SkillsUSA, a CareerTech student organization affiliated with trade and industrial education. When she completes the internship, she plans to return to her job at Clubhouse Trailer Company of Edmond.
Read more on the CV Tech website.
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Ain’t no man can avoid being born average, but there ain’t no man got to be common. – Satchel Paige
