Pam Jarrett for Grove School Board--Public Appearance

As a candidate for the Grove School Board, I will be appearing at the Delaware County GOP meeting next week.

The newsletter says

"Our next meeting is scheduled for January 23, 2025 at 6:30 p.m. and will be held at Grove Christian Center, located at 29010 Shundi Road, Grove, OK 74344. Our guest speaker is Pam Jarrett, candidate for Grove School Board Office No. 5. The ballot is non-partisan, but we welcome all registered republican candidates to present their platform. There will be time for questions. Jarrett also has information available on her blog spot.   "

I am happy to take questions as they fit into the time I am given, about twenty minutes.

By nature, I am an analytical person and like to think about things before I speak.  I am asking that if you have a question for me you follow this procedure so we can both be successful in our communication.

Questions answered will be ones submitted to me by my email at

pamsheartart@boltfiber.net on a first come, first served basis.

As I receive a question, I will assign a number to it.  I will let you know what your number is and you will need to be present to ask your question in person.  If there are two questions the same, I will assign a number with a,b,etc so if the first one submitting the question isn't present, it can go to the "a" person.  

Topics I will speak about are a brief history of my appearances before the board that led me to wanting to run, the phone policy the school has adopted and how it's working, and my educational goals for students. 

I hope to see you there! 

Pam Jarrett for Grove School Board -- Reading is Key to Success

When I asked a father of highly successful boys what led to their success, he said ,"Reading at an early age."

Today let's focus on reading attainment in Grove schools. 

We are coming upon a celebration of  Dolly Parton's Imagine Library for our town.  I will write more about that in a minute.

I am including here a link to a free You Tube movie called 

Gifted Hands.

This is the true story of Dr Ben Carson who is a world renowned

neurosurgeon having attained the remarkable feat of separating conjoined twins.

Ben's life didn't start out racing for success.  However, the push for reading by his illiterate mother made all the difference in the world and Ben's life.

Here is link to the movie:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jUhyvjD1uo

(There will be ads to skip.)

This inspiring movie emphasizes the importance of reading and accomplishing nearly anything by being able to read.  

Grove is having a Dolly Parton Celebration on January 16th.

Local businesses and groups are invited to join in a Community Scavenger Hunt Jan. 9 to15, leading up to “Dolly Day,” a celebration of the famous singer and philanthropist’s birthday on Jan. 16. During the hunt, teams will use children’s book-related clues to spot Dolly’s image at 15 locations and businesses in Grove and Jay.

Grove Rotary sponsors the Delaware County Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, which offers free books every month to the county’s children from birth to age five.

Teams that find all 15 locations will be entered in a drawing for the Dolly Day Traveling Trophy awarded during the birthday celebration scheduled 4 to 7 p.m. on Jan. 16, at Church on the Hill. 

 

You will see the Imagination Library program is for birth to age five.

Children need to be read to from infancy.  As you hold them and read, you also can point to certain things in the book.  The child will learn language, voice inflection, syntax and so much more even before they can react to it.  If the books are owned and at home, they can be read over and over.  

Soon the child can select a book from a basket and you will discover which ones are their favorites!

I know of one instance where a child needed nebulizer treatments.

The parent or an an older sibling would hold her and read to her while she was taking her treatments.  This was a pleasant experience for both parties!

Another time to enjoy reading with your child is before naps or going to bed at night. 

Here's to hoping that more children than ever are read to and enjoyed! 

 

Pam Jarrett for Grove School Board-Possible Project

Possible  Solar Project for our School

UPDATE:  The Solar Energy presentation will not be happening tonight, January 14.  They are now aiming for the February meeting for this to happen.  

 Superintendent  Dodson stated in his December report that Brightwell may be coming to the January Board Meeting on January 14th at the school Administration building, 7:00PM.  I see there is a "Presentation on solar energy"  scheduled for this meeting now.

As I understand it, a representative would be giving information about about the funding of a project to put solar panels on some of our buildings in an effort to reduce our electric bills when the roofs are replaced.  

This is a link to Brightwell so you may understand how they operate.  https://brightwellco.com/  If you watch their video, you will have a better understanding on this.

 As always, I am working to provide you with facts about what is happening in our Grove schools.

 

1776 Project Fits My Goals

Today my husband brought this to my attention.

It is exactly what I want for the schools in Grove.

Please read all about it at

https://1776projectpac.com/about/ 

I would welcome your comments here or by emailing me at 

pamsheartart@boltfiber.net  

Ballot Sample for the February 11, 2025 Election

 This is what the ballot will look like for the 

FEBRUARY 11 Grove School Board Election

 

All registered voters from the precincts shown are eligible to vote.

Find your precinct number on your Voter Registration card

in the middle.

I urge all registered voters to participate in this election.

Clarification on who votes in the February 11th Election

 Any registered voter in the Grove School District

may vote in the February 11 election for a 

School Board Member. 

If you are not registered, the deadline to be able

to vote in the February 11th election is

January 17, 2025.

https://delaware.okcounties.org/departments/election-board/elections

I would love to have your vote.  Please read about my background

that qualifies me for this position and why I am seeking this

office in previous posts on this blog.

Should you have questions for me, please email me at

pamsheartart@boltfiber.net

New Statewide Results for School Performance

 There is a new report from the Oklahoma State Department of Education that came out earlier this week.  

The good news is that there are significant improvements in academics

for OK schools. 

Take this link to see the article:

https://sde.ok.gov/press-release/2024-12-18/walters-our-schools-are-turning-corner

To see a Grove individual school's Report Card results, go to 

https://sde.ok.gov/

Then Open the Resources tab at the top.  Scroll down to 

Oklahoma School Report Card

A map of OK will appear.  Click on Delaware County.

All the Grove Schools will appear.  By clicking each school, you will see its report card.  Overall, our schools are rated "C" but take note note of very good good ratings in the academic areas of a couple. 

Interesting!  I think it shows that we can do better in some areas and our Principals , Staff, Superintendent and School Board  can work together to improve Grove schools.  

Remember to vote on February 11 for Pam Jarrett,

 Grove School Board 

Pam Jarrett for Grove School Board--My "Why"

First, I became interested in contributing to the School Board so I called the Delaware County Election Board.  I found we are the only county school system with the ward system.  Grove is divided into 5 wards of relatively equal population.  One School Board member from one ward is elected each year in a rotation.  A candidate must live in the ward up for election during that year.  I thought immediately,"I will have a 20% chance of living in the ward up for 2025 so my chances are slim."

 However, I do live in Ward 5 which is up for election in 2025!  I was delighted!  I also like the fact that I don't have to be running against an individual who now holds the seat but can let you know I am running for an opportunity to represent the voters of Grove School District. 

Many have asked me why I would run for the Grove School Board.

  Here are my answers:

1) We are being encouraged to get involved locally in our communities. This is something I am interested in to help our public school be successful.  Our test scores have not been that great so it appears that what has been done in the past isn't being as effective as it could be.  (And yes I know test scores aren't always a good judge of performance but it is what we have.)

2) I would like to encourage greater transparency between the school and community and vice versa.  This would require more dialogue between the two parties.  I have some ideas how this could be accomplished and would be willing to work toward that goal as a member of the Board.

3) An issue I am especially interested in the restoration of the Bible to the classroom as a source of historical significance in our world and country.  There is so much false information that people quote because they heard it from someone else.  The guidelines for the use of the Bible in classrooms were published by the State Department of Education and are clear how the Bible can be used under the state standards. Period.  

4)  We are entering a time where we may have challenges if/when the control of Department of Education is given back to the states.  I would like to be involved in that process. 

5) We need to take measures to make the homes of our students successful in concert with our teachers being honored for what they are doing to educate the children. People thrive where they find success.  This goes for the parents, the students, and the teachers.

Should you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to email me at pamsheartart@boltfiber.net  I would love to hear from you!

Pam Jarrett for Grove School Board: My Background

 A few specific things in my background make me a good     candidate for the Grove School Board .

              I was a co-Salutatorian of my High School class.

 

I attended Lincoln Christian College Lincoln, Illinois

for three years where my majors were Christian Education and Music.

 

I was an aide in a resource situation part time in Sheldon, Wisconsin.

 

I worked in Garfield RE 2 school district in Colorado  full time for 22 years as a para.  My duties varied from working with special needs children (they were called severe needs at the time) for 11 of those years.  Other Duties were in ESL and Music with my final job being an accompanist for High School Choirs.  Through all of those years, it was satisfying working with the kids and seeing them make progress and discover new things.

 

Personal background includes being married to my husband over 55 years.  We have three grown children and 19 grandchildren--well 20 if you count the wife of our oldest grandson. (We count her!)

I started giving grandchildren piano lessons 18 years ago as my legacy gift to them.  Six of the grands are still taking lessons to this day.

 

Should you have any questions or comments, you may email me at

pamsheartart@boltfiber.net    

 I will gladly answer your questions in an effort to be transparent and keep you informed.

Thank you,

Pam

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

November project using Truly Blessed

 Thinking ahead to November, I created cards 

using previous Close To My Heart products.

I used the Truly Blessed Stamps and Thin Cuts Z3528 for the main spray. To begin, I stamped the entire image in Toffee.

 

To color in the leaves, I cut a sponging stencil from photo paper. I used shortbread over the entire leaf then Pumpkin to bring in color from the side. Green sprigs were colored with Dull Green Tri-Blend marker, and the red dots were the Deep Red Triblend. Wheatlike sprigs were colored in with newest colored pencils we had. 

 

I stamped the pine cones on the light side of Espresso and used Espresso ink to stamp them. Ditto with the acorn.

 

Little tag was from a tag set we had in Thin Cuts and the "enjoy" was from a very old sentiments set.

Enjoy your Fall!

With Heart,  Pam