Gordon Cooper Student Holly Turner Brings Pottawatomie County's Voice to Washington, D.C.
Most students read about government in a textbook. Gordon Cooper Technology Center student Holly Turner spent a week in the room where it happens.
In late September, Turner traveled to Washington, D.C., for the annual Washington Leadership Training Institute (WLTI), representing Oklahoma as one of SkillsUSA Oklahoma's State Officers. The week was part leadership training and part advocacy. Turner sat down for meetings with elected officials, spoke up for career and technical education, and came home a stronger leader. She also made time for some sightseeing at the monuments.
The week fits the kind of student Gordon Cooper helps build. Career and technical education isn't only about learning a trade. It's about learning to lead, to speak up, and to make the case for why hands-on training matters to a student's future and to the workforce that communities like ours depend on. Turner got to practice that at the national level, with Oklahoma's name on her badge.
For Pottawatomie County, it's a proud moment. A Gordon Cooper student stepped into rooms most people her age never see and spoke for young people across the state, with the same confidence she's building in the classroom and the lab back home.
Congratulations, Holly. The future of Pottawatomie County is in good hands, and this week it was on the Hill.
