The 2022-2023 school year went by in a blink of an eye. I am excited and humbled to be the leader at Tahlequah Public Schools. I am thankful every day for our amazing staff, students, their families, and the community of Tahlequah. It truly takes a village to make our district successful and we have a great village!
The Month of May at Tahlequah Public Schools have been full of activities and celebrations! In May, we always celebrate our school staff. We are extremely thankful for the 500 plus employees that choose to be a Tiger every day! We have over 250 certified staff that have dedicated their lives to teaching children. Our teachers put their heart and soul into planning for and delivering quality instruction and building relationships with their students every day. We have hundreds of support staff that help in every capacity imaginable. Our paraprofessionals, office staff, custodians, maintenance staff, bus drivers, child nutrition workers, and business staff are what keep the district running every day! We have administrators that work year-round to make sure that teachers and support staff have the best possible working environment and make sure that students and their families have every opportunity possible to be successful. It was wonderful to see the community and the families at each site celebrate these hard-working people. Food, fun, gifts, and laughter brought much joy to our staff and we are truly thankful.
This month we also celebrated our class of 2023 honor graduates! On May 10th, the Tahlequah Chamber of Commerce hosted an Honor Grad Luncheon for the top 10% of our graduating class. 36 students were honored that day. These students are: Robby Batson, Emma Maxwell, Ella Barnes, Kristin Campbell, Hillary Smith, Jacie Bennett, Adam Arnall, Kaylee Marshall, Avery Barrett, Emily Morrison, Emma Sherron, Lauren Jones, Taber Gilbert, Sadie Foster, Jasper Ward, Riley Freymuth, Isaac Allen, Diana McIntosh, Jenna Hamlin, Sydni Callaway, Burke Hendricks, Hailey Dotson, Brice Miggletto, Sierra Wiggins, Courtney Preston, Kirsten Kelly, Alexis Northrup, Cale Matlock, Keegan Turner, Hayden Smith, Ryan Dark, Nate Brant, Daris Paine, Lyric Koehn, Trinity Reed and Jasmine Moreno. These students are the best of the best at THS. They have an average GPA of 4.43 ranging from a 4.76 to a 4.22. These students maintained stellar GPAs while working, playing sports, volunteering, belonging to multiple organizations, and in many cases attending NSU concurrently. They have plans to attend and have earned scholarships to universities all over the United States. They will be earning degrees in a variety of fields. We have future park rangers, music ministers, doctors, lawyers, sports broadcasters, accountants, social workers, veterinarians, pilots, aerospace, computer or mechanical engineers, surgeons, psychologists, speech pathologists and teachers! We have a few that are still deciding just where their path might take them. One thing we know is, the possibilities are endless! Thank you to the Tahlequah Chamber of Commerce for creating this event to celebrate our students.
Friday, May 19th we graduated 270 seniors from Tahlequah High School. We would like to congratulate all these students on their hard work and commitment to reaching this goal. This great group of seniors has left their mark on THS and will not be forgotten. We are so very proud of you and look forward to seeing all that you accomplish in the future!
As always, if you have any comments, questions, or concerns, I am available. You may contact me by phone at 918.458.4100 or by email at jonest@tahlequahschools.org. Thank you and remember, “Once a Tiger, Always a Tiger!”
Written by Tanya Jones/Superintendent