Thousands of Educators Celebrated at Pottawatomie County Event

Nearly 2,400 teachers packed into FireLake Arena in Shawnee for a morning that wasn't about lesson plans or supply lists. It was about them.

The Avedis Foundation's 9th annual Celebrate Educators event, held Friday, August 28, brought together educators from 21 districts across Pottawatomie County and neighboring communities like Seminole, Prague, Meeker, Chandler, and Little Axe. The day is free for every teacher, support staff member, and administrator in the Foundation's service area, and it's built around a simple idea: before asking educators to pour into their students all year, pour into them first.

That idea played out in the details. A silver-suited "mirror man" led a light-up processional into the arena alongside student cheer groups. A DJ kept the energy high between prize giveaways of gift cards and tech items, and a student-powered program carried the morning, with more than 50 students from ten different districts performing under the direction of educators like Joseph Craven, Desiree Whiteman, Katie Marrs, and Jacee Miller. Scout Troops #444 and #477 presented the colors, and the Shawnee Public Schools Choir opened the event with the National Anthem.

Eight students also stepped into hosting roles for the day, including Kaydence Staude of Meeker; Memphis Morgan and Ella Parks of Seminole; Kamora Jones, Karma Mason, Mary Beth King, and Madison Corneil of Shawnee; Maddilyn Taron of Tecumseh; and Braxton Runyan of Prague.

The morning's keynote came from Damon West, a former Division I quarterback at the University of North Texas whose football career ended in a career-ending injury. What followed was a battle with addiction that eventually led to a 65-year prison sentence. West spent more than seven years in a maximum security facility, where he built a philosophy around a simple metaphor: boiling water softens a carrot and hardens an egg, but a coffee bean does something different. It changes the water around it.

West has spent the years since sharing that message with academic and athletic communities across the country, telling audiences that circumstances don't determine impact. Choices do. For a room full of educators about to spend a year absorbing pressure most people never see, it was a message aimed squarely at them.

Avedis Foundation President and CEO Dr. Kathy Laster said the goal of the day is for educators to walk away feeling celebrated, energized, and confident their community sees what they do. Behind the scenes, that goal took a year of planning from the Foundation's Superintendent Planning Committee, including Julie McCormick of Gordon Cooper Technology Center, Brad Hawkins of Maud Public Schools, Dr. Jason James of Shawnee Public Schools, Robert Kinsey of Tecumseh Public Schools, and Sally Thomason of Pleasant Grove Public Schools.

Pottawatomie County's future is bright because of the impact these educators are making between bells and beyond.