It’s time for school board elections again. Voters in the school districts of Adair, Chouteau-Mazie, Locust Grove, Salina, Chelsea and Ketchum will go to the polls Tuesday, Feb. 9, to elect a board member for seat five. Polls are open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.



Adair



Three candidates are vying for seat five on the Adair School Board. Incumbent Granville Martin is facing opponents Tobie Cooper and John L. Brachtenbach.

“Adair is a great school with great teachers and students,” said Tobie Cooper.

Cooper, a native of Mayes County, is running agaist incumbent Granville Martin and fellow challenger John Brachtenbach for seat five on the Adair School Board.

Cooper said her goal is to be a part of the great school system at Adair. She wants to work with other board members to ensure Adair students have quality teachers and the educational environment they need to succeed.

“I care about our children’s education and future,” Cooper said.

Cooper, daughter of Chief and Barrie Jordan, graduated from Pryor High School in 1987. She attended college at NEO A&M; College and Rogers State University.

Cooper married Craig Cooper in 1991. He is currently the Adair fire chief and an instructor at Northeast Technology Center.

Cooper and her husband have two daughters, Chancie, 13, and Chasee Jo, 8. The girls are in the eighth and second grades in Adair Schools.

Cooper has served on several boards and committees in the local community. She has worked on Pryor Chamber of Commerce Board, Ambassadors Committee, Mayes County Free Clinic Board and Leadership Pryor Class of 2007. She is currently the treasurer of Pryor Creek Sertoma. Cooper said she has enjoyed volunteering her time and experience to the committees.

As a potential board member, Cooper said, “I will be there to learn and give a new perspective of our children’s education.”

Cooper said students must have the desire to try and better themselves and their education.

“I have always taught my kids not to be afraid to try new things whether they succeed at it or not,” she said. “...Don’t let anyone try to stop you.”

Cooper has worked for RCB Bank for 20 years. She was recently promoted to consumer loan officer after working as an investment counselor and teller supervisor.

Incumbent Granville Martin has served on the Adair School Board for five years.

Martin, who will turn 60 this next week, is a 1968 graduate of Strang High School. He taught at Adair for 25 years as a high school counselor. He retired in 2001.

“It’s been a pleasure to serve on the board,” Martin said. “I’ve had a lot of support.”

Martin said it’s been interesting to serve on the administrative side after working as an educator for 25 years.

“I’m proud of our school,” said Martin, adding that Adair school system is stable academically and athletically. He said he supports the school by attending games and FFA events.

School accomplishments in the last five years include a new cafeteria, a new field house on the football field and five new school buses. The field house was paid with building funds and school bonds funded the cafeteria and school buses. Martin said the school sees continued growth.

Martin said the school board gets along and works together.

“We want what is best for the students there at Adair,” he said.

Martin said it takes a lot of education from both the teachers and the parents to turn out good students.

Martin, who has never been married, runs a cattle operation of 125 head. Approximately 75 of his herd are breeder cows. He enjoys helping neighbors put out hay and lending a hand with other chores.

Martin also serves on the Rural Water District 6 board. He is a member of Greenbrier Free Will Baptist Church and serves there as the church clerk.

Martin said students need the opportunity to achieve and go on and live a good life. He said he appreciates all the support he has received during his five years on the board.

“Hopefully I get to serve another five,” he said. “If not, I’ll still be a supporter of the school.”

The Daily Times could not reach the third Adair candidate, John L. Brachtenbach, Jr., for an interview.





Chouteau



Chouteau School board elections feature the race between Cliff Orcutt and Larry Stamper.

Orcutt has lived in Chouteau about all of his life. He’s a 1988 graduate of Chouteau Schools.

“My parents graduated from Chouteau and my grandmother is a graduate of Mazie,” Orcutt said.

Orcutt and his wife, Amy, have five children: Noel, 12, Brooklyn, 11, Isabella, 2 1/2, and twin year and a half old boys Quincy and Quaid.

He’s been involved in the school

system since his kids have been in school.

“My wife and I have both volunteered at the school,” he said. “I have a

personal interest in this school and you can only do so much as a parent.”

Orcutt decided to get involved when he realized how test scores were

suffering.

“I was made aware of the test scores and frankly it concerned me,” he said. “I want my kids to get a grade-A education.”

Orcutt wants to direct the focus from the negativity in the district and put it back on the kids where it belongs.

“I don’t have an ax to grind. We have a lot of really great people in the school,” Orcutt said. “We have the capacity to be really great. We have the right teachers. We need to make things about the kids.”

Orcutt wants to see the community reunite with the school.

“When we get behind the kids again, the community will get behind us,” he said.

Orcutt emphasized the importance of having a good school system to draw new business to the area.

“The school system says a lot,” he said. “We are at the intersection of two major highways. As I’ve heard it said, there’s no reason we can’t bend over and pick the gold up off the ground.”

Orcutt wants to see the school the way he knows it can be.

“I love this place,” he said. “It breaks my heart to see all of the harsh

negativity. None of it has anything to do with these kids.”

Larry Stamper was born and raised around Chouteau. He’s been in the

education field for 35 years and feels

his experience makes him highly

qualified candidate for this position.

Stamper and wife, Andrea, have a daughter, Kelsey, 10, and a son, Karson, who is eight.

“With my kids now in school, their education is our number one priority,” he said.

Stamper’s main

concern is accountability.

“I want to see accountability in that system from top to bottom across the board,” he said.

He also wants to help re-establish the relationship between the school/school board and the community.

“If there’s not support between the two, the kids will suffer,” he said. “There are little things, that as a teacher,

I recognize as being needed.”

Stamper feels his experience has prepared him to understand both the needs of parents and the needs of teachers.

“We’ve got to get things in order,” Stamper said. “Kids first.”





Locust Grove



Mike Stone is running for the Locust Grove school board. He admits he has a lot of questions and a lot to learn about how the district is run, but he is ready to do what is best for the students.

“I want to see how everything is run.

I have a lot of questions and I don’t have all the facts. Mostly I want to do what’s best for the kids at Locust Grove,” Stone said.

The father of three, feels its important the students of the district have the best equipment and teachers to help them succeed.

“I’d like to see them get the best

teachers for the kids and keep the best ones that we have,” Stone said.

One of the things Stone would like to see happen if elected is a new school building for the lower

elementary students. He believes the district is in need of a new Early Learning Center facility.

Stone also understands that the district, like

others in the state, are concerned about the school’s budget. He said his goal is to do what’s best to help the teachers and “help find where to put the money that best serves the kids.”

Stone feels he would work well with the other board members and is

prepared to offer his opinion of what is best for everyone in the school district.

The other candidate running for the open seat on the school board is Joe Neel. The Daily Times made attempts to contact Neel but was not able to reach him for an interview.





Salina



Citizens of the Salina school district will go to the polls Tuesday and pick their chose for the seat five of the school board. The incumbent, Carey Backward is joined by Tracy Burns Stuart and Sophia Carnes in a race for the position.

Backward has been a member of the Salina school board for five years. He has served as president and is currently the board’s clerk. The Salina graduate said he has spent the last 42 years in his hometown and is happy to see the positive turn the district has taken.

“The Salina school

district is going in the right direction,” said Backward. “I want to see Salina become a stable district.”

Backward said he envisions a time when people will look at the Salina school district’s academics, sports and other activities and want to be like them or join them.

He dreams of teachers lining up to apply for jobs with the district.

Backward feels the

current board along with former superintendent Vol Woods and his predecessor Tony Thomas are

helping move the district forward.

Backward said one of the projects that has come to fruition during his time on the board was the passing of a school bond issue that helped build a new elementary school.

A new hitting facility or all sports facility was also built next to the high school.

The building is an indoor facility with a turf floor that was built for the softball and baseball teams. It can be also used for other activities to

keep students out of the weather.

Backward said several parents, including himself, help to build the facility saving the school money.

“Dads put it up. We saved thousands of

dollars by doing it ourselves,” Backward said.

A list of goals the current board has established is another reason Backward would like to be re-elected. On the academic side, Backward thinks the district made a good move naming Linda Bales as curriculum director. He also is aware how tough times are for schools across the state.

“Education right now is in trouble as far as funding from the state,” Backward said. “We want to make sure the kids are taken care of and the district is taken care of.”

Tracy Burns Stuart, another Salina grad, also wants to do what’s best for the students.

“I have a kid in this school and I want to make sure we have the best that we can have to help our kids succeed,” Stuart said.

Stuart put a lot of thought into her decision to run for the school board. She admits she waited until the last filing date to throw her name in the hat.

“There is no one at the school I have anything against. I feel like I’m doing this for the right reasons,” Stuart said.

A registered nurse, who works for Cherokee Nation Home Health in Salina, Stuart feels she would make good decisions for the district “based on facts and my beliefs. Not just popular opinion.”

Stuart said she is ready to hit the ground running if elected. She plans to learn as much as she can about each issue and is not afraid to do research. She also brings an open mind if elected.

“I want to make sure they (students) have the best education they can have and I want to be a part of that decision,” said Stuart. “This is a whole new area for me. I have to go into it with an open mind.”

Stuart hopes her strong personality and her belief system will help her make decisions that are good for the district. The mother of two, feels its important that people get out and vote Tuesday.

“I appreciate their vote but the main thing is that they get out and vote. I don’t care who you vote for just get out and vote,” Stuart said. “You know the old saying, you can’t really gripe unless you get out and vote.”

The final candidate is Sophia Carnes. The Daily Times was unable to

contact Carnes for an interview.