According to Donna Gradel, teaching is a science and an art.
“It’s the artist who inspires and creates an atmosphere of innovation for their students,” the science teacher says. “I believe the standardization and programmed approach we see in education today has squeezed the artistry out of the classroom.”
Gradel has spent the past 30 years in the classroom – more...
Retired Jenks High School football coach Allan Trimble is not from this world, according to his friend Troy Taber.
“He knows where he is from and where he is going,” Taber says. “‘Spectacular servant of the Lord.’ Those are the four words I would use.”
Trimble, 55, was diagnosed in June 2016 with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, commonly known as ALS or...
Books, videos and lectures on blacksmithing can only go so far. Those practicing this ancient, sophisticated, highly technical craft say you have to learn by doing.
“Don’t be shy; get involved,” says Byron Doner, an officer with the Saltfork Craftsmen Artist Blacksmith Association. “You sure will learn faster.”
The nonprofit educational organization, which promotes this fiery mixture of art and trade,...
The Lofoten Islands – beautiful, untamed and north of the Arctic Circle in the tempestuous waters of the Norwegian Sea – bely their location as grateful beneficiaries of the Gulf Stream.
The outcropping off Norway’s northwest coast enjoys mild winter and summer temperatures of 34 degrees and 54 degrees, respectively. While not Tahiti hot, it’s warmer than most places on...
It was the coveted purse of a newborn fowl that first drew Keith Whitfield to the art world.
“Only in Oklahoma,” says Whitfield, who owns and operates Aartvark Graphic Design in Owasso with his wife, Dana. “I’ve been drawing since I can remember. I won a drawing contest in first grade – the prize was a live baby chick.”
As a...
Wrongful convictions are not easy to overturn, even when the defense has DNA evidence on its side.
Five to seven years is a typical timetable for working toward exoneration, says Vicki Behenna, executive director of the Oklahoma Innocence Project, which tries to reverse wrongful convictions in the state.
“We call it the innocence movement,” says Behenna, who spent 25 years as...
A couple of months ago in this space, I wrote about a then-upcoming event at Tulsa’s Will Rogers High School auditorium, honoring the musical legacy of one of its most famous alumni, Leon Russell.
The tribute concert included the dedication of the refurbished Baldwin piano that Russell played in the ’50s for the amusement of his high school peers during their...
Anytime Edmond native Josh Richardson returns to this part of the country during the NBA season, the fourth-year Miami Heat player always stops at a specific Oklahoma City-based chain.
“I love Braum’s,” he says after a morning shoot-around before a game in Dallas. “Anytime Oklahoma or Texas, I try to go to Braum’s.”
Richardson, Miami’s second-round pick in the 2015...
In 2017, then-Gov. Mary Fallin addressed an audience in Washington about what she called Oklahoma’s “dubious honor.”
For decades, the state has led the nation in female incarceration by staggering numbers. That year, 151 per every 100,000 women in the state were in prison – many for drug-related crimes. As the incarceration rate has ballooned in recent years and more...
Be it cotton, wool or paint, the art from Sullystring has bright colors and eye-catching patterns and begs the observer to touch it – or cuddle, in the case of soft pillows. The story behind this Tulsa brand – the woman who runs the show – is even more compelling and inviting than the soft textiles and friendly murals...
