Tag Archives: Rob McClendon

Oklahoma Horizon TV

On the Horizon: It’s Hard and That’s a Good Thing

On a recent trip to Southeast Oklahoma, I met a group of students who really impressed me. They were all valedictorians at their home schools and taking a pre-engineering course at Kiamichi Tech Center in Idabel.

Now a lot of people think that going to a tech center means you aren’t planning on going to college, but that just isn’t the case. Many students are taking courses at local tech centers to prepare them to go to college. In the pre-engineering course, the instructor talked about how he had a student who had gone through his class and then went to college only to find out that one of the books they had used while in high school, was the same book that was being used in his college class. The only difference…when he went through it at the tech center, they went ALL the way through the book and at college they only did a portion of it. So he actually got more academic training at Kiamichi Tech than he did in his college class.

When I asked each of the students why they took the pre-engineering class at Kiamichi Tech, every single one of them said, “Because it’s more challenging.” They were wanting an education that challenged them and the basic high school classes just weren’t enough. There was even one student who before taking the class was very introverted and wouldn’t talk to anyone and just kept to himself. But after going through the pre-engineering class, he became very outgoing and animated when talking about what he was learning. I guess his classmates were more on his level and could understand him. It’s really nice to see high school students excited about learning.

In this week’s video blog, meet the students from Kiamichi Tech Center’s pre-engineering class and see what makes these kids want to learn more.
Alisa Hines

On the Horizon: It’s Hard and That’s a Good Thing! from Alisa Hines on Vimeo.

Oklahoma Horizon TV

On the Horizon: Severe Weather

I still remember the day quite vividly. I was young and had been away at a summer camp and my dad was on a trip in Washington, D.C., which left my mom home alone to take care of livestock and our house. I remember that year being an exceptionally wet year and I remember this due to a particular event that I will never forget. Our house flooded.

We’re not talking about a basement flood or that the carpet in our house was wet and soggy due to a water leak, we are talking about the fact that there was so much rain that water slowly rose to a point that it crept in through our doors and filled our house to a point where water was up to your knees. Granted the water only rose as fast as it rained which allowed us to save most all of our belongings but as I mentioned earlier, my mom was home alone and pregnant at the time so we considered ourselves lucky to be from a small rural community that pulled together to help save what they could. It was one of those times that you find out who your friends are and consider yourself blessed to have said friends and family.

Our natural disaster was mild compared to some of the other stories we have seen and heard over the years but in this week’s video blog, you see how weather can affect not only lives but can also be big business. I also mention in the show a top 10 weather disaster list where Oklahoma was mentioned more than once and that list can be viewed at the link provided below.

http://dsc.discovery.com/tv-shows/curiosity/topics/10-costly-weather-disasters.htm
Kela Kelln

Oklahoma Horizon TV

On the Horizon: A Real Go-Getter!

Recently I spent a day with a young person who I greatly respect after following her around for the day. She is a straight “A” student and has been all her life but not only is she smart, she is athletic as well. It was fun to watch her with her classes because she enjoys them so much. From a class in graphic communications which she plans on making her career to an AP Literature class, Kelsey completely absorbs herself in whatever it is she is doing.

Now her athletic abilities have D-1 schools clamoring after her to come to their school. But she is quick to tell them “My career is going to be in graphic communications do you have that at your school?” She is completely focused in the right area of her life. I’m so impressed that she doesn’t let the attraction of so many schools wanting her go to her head.

In this week’s video blog, you can see how much enthusiasm Kelsey McClure has and the determination to make her future count.
Alisa Hines

Oklahoma Horizon TV

On The Horizon: Greyson’s Advocates

Written Aug 26, 2011 11:40am
We are saying goodbye to our precious baby today. Giving family a chance to say their goodbyes, including Tucker. Then we will send everyone away so Austin & I can be alone with him once he’s off the machines. Just the 3 of us, like the day he was born. We will let everyone know arrangements once they are done. Thank you all for your love, support & prayers. Greyson will have a great time in heaven listening to my dad & all his grandpas tell tall tales with sweet ChiChi laying beside him.

Written Aug 26, 2011 7:16pm
Greyson has gone.

Those were words friends of mine wrote the day their precious baby boy, Greyson, died. Heart wrenching for a parent to have to write much less read. I’m sitting here with tears in my eyes just trying to write this and both my children are grown and healthy. I can’t imagine the pain and suffering my friends went through. It breaks my heart thinking about it knowing that there was something that could have been done at the start that might have prevented his death.

You see he had a congenital heart defect. Greyson’s specific condition is called Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome. His left ventricle did not properly develop, so he basically had only the right side of his heart. There is a test hospitals can do to detect this defect and begin treatment immediately but unfortunately, most hospitals don’t perform this test (it only costs $10) and the hospital where Greyson was born, at the time, didn’t choose to perform the test. They do now thanks to the brave parents of little Greyson who decided their baby boy wasn’t going to die in vain.

In this week’s video blog, meet Greyson’s parents, Austin and Melissa Moore, and hear their story and what’s being done to help prevent future parents from going through what they’ve been through.
Alisa Hines

Oklahoma Horizon TV

On the Horizon: Tuition is Up, Up, and Away

I remember receiving mail from the Bursar’s office and always cringing at the sight of my tuition bill. Luckily, I had scholarships to fund a lot of my education, but because I was an out-of-state student, my bill was even higher than most of my peers. I realize a college degree is important, but how much is too much for a piece of paper in a picture frame?

In today’s video blog, we take a look at the national student debt and why employers are saying that graduates aren’t fully prepared for the workplace.
Andy Barth