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Deer Creek educator named 2020 Oklahoma Teacher of the Year

Nuria Martinez-Keel
Jena Nelson, a Deer Creek Middle School teacher, center, reacts between finalists Patricia Lightfoot, a Weatherford Middle School teacher, left, and Michelle Rahn, a Will Rogers Junior High teacher, as Nelson is announced the 2020 Oklahoma Teacher of the Year at State Fair Park on Tuesday. [Nate Billings/The Oklahoman]

To Oklahoma’s 2020 Teacher of the Year, education is more than a calling. It was the inspiration that saved her life.

Jena Nelson became the 65th state Teacher of the Year winner Tuesday at a ceremony at the OKC Fairgrounds. The composition teacher from Deer Creek Middle School credited her own former teachers for giving her the guidance to overcome a childhood of poverty.

“As someone who came from less than humble beginnings, I am proud to represent every kid that has struggled and failed and has picked themselves up again to achieve their goals,” Nelson said. “I am the proud product of every single teacher that believed in me and pushed me to be more than my circumstances.”

One of those educators was Stephen Smallwood, Nelson’s drama teacher at Broken Bow High School and the 1996 Oklahoma Teacher of the Year.

Nelson and Smallwood embraced after Tuesday’s ceremony with tears in both of their eyes.

“This man physically, literally, in every way saved my life,” Nelson said. “Without you, I would have been another statistic instead of the state Teacher of the Year.”

Nelson recalled a moment in high school when Smallwood caught her in the hallway as she was on her way to “make a pretty bad choice.” He stopped her and said, “You need to take that energy and passion and put it in this classroom.”

She began taking drama, speech and debate classes and discovered a new purpose in school. The musical theater and speech programs took Nelson and other Broken Bow students across the state for competitions, Smallwood said.

It opened their eyes to possibilities beyond their hometown in rural southeast Oklahoma.

“She was a strong personality with a big talent and great soul and a real compassion for her fellow man,” Smallwood said. “To make herself exceptional and stand out is an incredible blessing, and it certainly speaks well of all the kids. I’ve often said this — let me put it this way — geography doesn’t change kids, but it changes opportunities.”

Nelson was selected from 12 state Teacher of the Year finalists to serve as the Oklahoma Ambassador of Teaching, a position that will have her speak with schools and advocate for education as a profession.

She will take office in July once the current teacher of the year, Becky Oglesby, finishes her term as the 2019 award winner. She also will represent Oklahoma in the national Teacher of the Year competition.

Nelson said she will emphasize career readiness and trauma awareness in schools, both of which have become major priorities for the Oklahoma State Department of Education. She also spoke of the need for a “revolution of morale” among educators in the state.

“I want to get in there,” Nelson said. “I want to help teachers. I want to help students. I want to help administrators figure out ways that we can keep these amazing teachers in Oklahoma so that we can rebuild this economy and make this state the best in the nation.”

‘She stood for something’

The education landscape has changed significantly since the first Oklahoma Teacher of the Year winner was named in 1955, when history teacher Ethel Briggs won the award for her work in Barnsdall Public Schools.

However, the art of classroom teaching has remained relatively the same since Briggs was an educator, said Barnsdall teacher Wilma Logue.

Shortly after Briggs won the inaugural award, Logue started her first year of teaching at Barnsdall. As a new educator, Logue, now 84, spent the 1955-56 school year under Briggs’ mentorship.

Much of what she learned from her mentor still applies today, she said. Logue described Briggs as a “born leader in education” who conveyed respect for her students and the material she taught in her history classes.

“She loved those that she taught and held everything in high esteem and preached values to them and tried to lead them in the right way,” Logue said. “I think that they recognized not only was she a good teacher in the classroom, but she was motivator of students.”

Briggs retired after Logue’s first year of teaching. She died in 1961, and the Barnsdall Public Library was named in Briggs’ honor the following year.

Logue has remained a high school AP English teacher and media specialist in the Osage County town ever since.

“She stood for something,” Logue said. “She stood for young people in education. She never wavered in the path. That’s why I think 65 years later I’m still teaching is because I stood for something.”

Editor's Note: This article has been updated to correct information on the Oklahoma Ambassador of Teaching position. Starting with Nelson, state Teachers of the Year will no longer have to leave the classroom for a year during their tenure.