Sand Springs Education Foundation Hall of Fame inductees announced for 2018

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Jerry L. Halcomb, Cathy Lynn Burdge, and Charles Marvin Hughes were recently announced as the Class of 2018 inductees into the Sand Springs Education Foundation Hall of Fame. The induction will be held at the organization's annual banquet on Thursday, April 26.

Hughes graduated Sand Springs High School in 1952 and was immediately drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals. He played for the Cardinals' organization for two years before being drafted into the U.S. Army and serving in Germany.

After his Army discharge, Hughes attained his Master Instructor's license in cosmetology and helped write the first test requirements for the Oklahoma State Cosmetology Board. He opened Adam and the First Lady salon in Sand Springs, and later founded the Scissors franchise which grew to nearly a dozen locations throughout the Tulsa Metropolitan Area.

Hughes coached youth baseball and was a weekly fan in attendance at Sandite football games until his passing in 2013 at the age of 79. 

Halcomb graduated Sand Springs High School in 1957, then graduated with Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Architecture from Oklahoma State University and received a diploma from Ecole des Beaux-Arts at Fountainbleau, France.  He founded HH Architects in 1971 and specialized in church design before retiring in 2013. He was inducted into the American Institute of Architects College of Fellows in 2012, an honor available to only the top 3% of AIA members. After retiring from HH Architects, he founded Studio H Architects.

Also a musician, Halcomb previously performed with the Shadow Lake 8 Orchestra, which was inducted into the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame in 2013. His band, Texas RoundUp, has been performing for more than forty years. Halcomb is a deacon at First Baptist Dallas, which he has attended since 1965. 

Burdge graduated Charles Page High School in 1973 and has spent her life in service to Sand Springs. Burdge has been an active volunteer with numerous service organizations over the years, including the Civitan Club, Sand Springs Community Services, and the Sand Springs Youth Football Association, the latter of which she serves on as Board Secretary and Cheer Coordinator. She has helped organize the Mayor's Cup softball tournament and the Downhill Derby soapbox car race. She also works as the Attendance Clerk at CPHS. 

The Hall of Fame Banquet includes dinner and a silent auction, and is held at the Ed Dubie Field House at 500 North Adams Road. The SSEF is a 501c3 organization and all donations are tax deductible. All donations from SSEF events go to fund the "Grants to Teachers" program for Sand Springs Public Schools. For tickets, sponsorship opportunities, or further information, please contact Foundation Director Tirita Montross at 918.245.6779.

CPHS graduate and NASA engineer Tim Wright speaks to Sand Springs elementary students

CPHS Class of 1988 graduate and soon-to-be Hall of Fame inductee Tim Wright speaks to Pratt Elementary students. (Photo: Scott Emigh).

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

"It seems like yesterday that I was right next door at Clyde Boyd (Middle School)," said Tim Wright to a packed gym full of Pratt Elementary students.

In fact, it was nearly thirty years ago that the Charles Page High School alumni attended Sand Springs Public Schools. 

Since graduating in 1988, Wright has moved on to bigger and better things than many people dare to dream of. 

From graduating the Florida Institute of Technology, to seeing his handiwork travel across the solar system, Wright has quite literally reached for the stars throughout his career. He is one of three Sand Springs alumni who will be recognized for their accomplishments Thursday evening at the 28th Annual Sand Springs Education Foundation Hall of Fame banquet at the CPHS Ed Dubie Field House.

SEE RELATED: CPHS Class of 1985 graduate Dr. Stacey Butterfield to be inducted into Sandite Hall of Fame

SEE RELATED: CPHS Class of 1967 graduate Larry Hurst to be inducted into Sandite Hall of Fame

Wright, who currently resides in Florida, returned to his hometown a few days before the banquet in order to speak to Sand Springs students about his journey and the future of engineering and space travel.

"I was an okay student," said Wright. "But if you said when I was your age that I was gonna be a rocket scientist, my friends would have said 'no way!' One day in high school I was working a construction job and I saw a jet fighter fly over. I was like, 'how does that go so fast?' So I got interested in that and talked to my CPHS councilors, who told me I should look into engineering."

Wright piqued the students' interest with talk of hover-boards, YETI tumblers, and LEGOs. After asking who liked to build their own creations with LEGOs without any instructions, nearly every hand in the building went up. "You just qualified to be engineers," he said. "You think outside of the box."

"I graduated Charles Page, and I was a proud Sandite. I was in my first day in engineering school and the teacher said to look at the person on my left and look at the person on my right. 'By the end of the year, one, if not both, will not be here. It will be hard,' said the instructor. I was from Oklahoma, and I was not gonna let that happen."

After graduating FIT with a Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Wright got his first job at Cape Canaveral building launch pads for unmanned rockets. 

Wright has spend most of his career at the Kennedy Space Center, working with the Space Shuttle program. His job primarily involves reentry operations and returning astronauts safely to Earth. His contributions to that effort earned him the NASA Silver Snoopy Award in 2015 for his work on developing heat shields. 

In 2006 Wright worked as the Thermal Protection System Facility Engineering Manager with United Space Alliance and helped to develop the BRI-18 tile. The Boeing Replacement Insulation tile is now utilized around main landing gear doors, external tank doors, and nose landing gear doors. It was first installed on the Discovery shuttle, which was retired in 2011.

"I'm a thermal protection engineer. I deal with heat and cold and trying to protect things. We launched 135 shuttles during that program and lost two. One of those I was there for, and that was the Columbia accident. That was probably the worst day of my career."

"At NASA, often things don't go as you planned. You can choose to give up, or you can choose to say 'I'm gonna fight back and I'm gonna make things better.' We spend the next two years making new parts that were stronger, new cameras that could go around the shuttle after launch and look for damage. After that day we made space flight safer and better than it's ever been."

In December of 2014, Wright's team celebrated a successful mission by the unmanned Orion capsule they had developed. Orion slingshotted around the Earth to become the farthest-traveling space capsule since the Apollo era, then safely returned to the planet. The Orion is scheduled to make another unmanned flight on September 30, 2018, then will hold its first crew by 2021.

"Every day I go to work and I get to look at that NASA emblem and that American flag, and I get reminded of what my job is," said Wright. "Rockets are very dangerous and it's up to engineers to limit that danger."

"No one ever thought these things would be done, and they're happening every day out there. Right now the goal at NASA is to go to Mars in the year 2030. If you're ten years old now, you'll likely be finishing college when we reach Mars. If you do good in math, if you do good in science, and you go to college and get a degree in engineering or some kind of science, then you can be the ones to go to Mars."

Wright is the second Sandite to be named to the Hall of Fame for working with NASA. Colonel William R. Pogue was inducted in the inaugural Class of 1990 after participating in the Apollo 7, 11, and 14 missions in 1966.

The Hall of Fame banquet will be catered by Rib Crib and will feature a silent auction and music by the CPHS Jazz Band. Sand Springs Teacher of the Year Janet Johnson will also be recognized at the event.

CPHS Class of 1985 graduate Dr. Stacey Butterfield to be inducted into Sandite Hall of Fame

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Superintendent of Jenks Public Schools, Dr. Stacey Butterfield is one of three CPHS alumni being inducted into the Sand Springs Education Foundation Hall of Fame this Thursday.

The Sand Springs Education Foundation will be holding its 28th Annual Hall of Fame banquet this Thursday evening at the Charles Page High School Ed Dubie Field House.

CPHS Class of 1985 graduate Dr. Stacey Ford Butterfield is one of three Sandites who will be inducted into the Hall of Fame Class of 2017.

SEE RELATED: CPHS Class of 1967 graduate Larry Hurst to be inducted into Sandite Hall of Fame

After graduating from Sand Springs, Butterfield studied at Oklahoma State University where she obtained her Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education and Master of Science degree in Curriculum and Instruction. She then attained her Doctorate of Education in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies from the University of Oklahoma. 

While working on her own education, Butterfield spent her summers as a teacher aid at the now defunct Hissom Memorial Center which closed in 1994. She also worked as a substitute teacher for the Sand Springs Public School District.

Upon graduating college, Butterfield began her career with the Jenks Public School District, where she has remained ever since. 

Butterfield was initially hired as a first-grade teacher at Jenks East Elementary in 1989, and later served as a Building Principal, Communications Director, Human Resources Supervisor, Assistant Superintendent, and Deputy Superintendent before being named the Superintendent of the school district in 2013. 

As Superintendent, Butterfield oversees all operations of the district, which includes nearly 12,000 students and 1,500 staff members. She also serves on Governor Mary Fallin's Education Advisory Committee and State Superintendent Joy Hofmeister's Advisory Council.

Butterfield was named one of the 21 Women of Distinction for 2013 by the Tulsa Business Journal, and was featured in The Journal Record as one of "50 Making a Difference" in 2014.

The Hall of Fame banquet will be catered by Rib Crib and will feature a silent auction and music by the CPHS Jazz Band. Sand Springs Teacher of the Year Janet Johnson will also be recognized at the event.

Montie Box honored at Salvation Army banquet

Montie Box is honored by the Salvation Army Boys and Girls Club with an award.

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

The Salvation Army Boys and Girls Club of Sand Springs honored longtime Sand Springs entrepreneur and philanthropist Montie Box with a banquet at Hillspring Church Tuesday night. The event also served as a fundraiser for new playground equipment for the Salvation Army facility. 

Stan Clark, founder and owner of Eskimo Joe's, was the keynote speaker, and several other community leaders also spoke at the Army of Stars Banquet. 

Eskimo Joe's founder Stan Clark was the keynote speaker at the Army of Stars Banquet.

Advisory Council Chairman Bob Anderson introduced the man of honor and read off his seemingly never-ending list of accomplishments. Box was then presented proclamations from the City of Sand Springs and the State of Oklahoma from Mayor Mike Burdge and Councilman Phil Nollan, respectively. Nollan presented the State proclamation on behalf of his wife, District 66 Representative Jadine Nollan, who was away at the Capitol. Senator Dan Newberry also gave an address honoring Box. 

Attendance at the event was $40 a chair and had more than 100 in attendance. The event concluded with a silent auction that generated more than $4,000 in addition to donations taken earlier in the night. 

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Montie Box is a long-time Sand Springs resident with more than half a century of real estate experience. He founded Montie Box Co. in 1958 after graduating from Oklahoma A&M, now Oklahoma State University. He served in the army during the Korean Conflict with the rank of First Lieutenant. 

In 1973 he was named Oklahoma Realtor of the Year. In 1988 he was awarded the Sand Springs Education Association Friend of Education recognition. He was a founding member of the Sand Springs Education Foundation in 1990. In 1992 he was given the honor of life membership on the Tulsa Boys' Home Board of Directors as well as the SS Education Foundation. That same year he was inducted into the Sand Springs Education Hall of Fame. In 1995 he was named Sand Springs Hometown Hero. In 1998 he received the Distinguished Service Award from the National Association of Realtors, which is considered to be the highest honor a realtor can receive and he is a member of the NAR Hall of Fame.

Senator Dan Newberry addresses the crowd and honors Montie Box. Newberry is currently running for reelection against outgoing Superintendent Lloyd Snow.

He served as a regent for Tulsa Community College from 1995-2006 and was the Chairman from 1996-1997. In 2009 he received the Vision in Education Award from TCC. 

His involvement with the Salvation Army goes back 61 years. He was instrumental in getting the new facility built in 1978 at its current location in Sand Springs. He is a life member of the Sand Springs Advisory Council, which is a prestigious appointment only available to members with a minimum of 15 years of outstanding service. He is a former coach and manager of Tulsa and Sand Springs Pee Wee Wrestling and he has served as Ringmaster at the Tulsa State Fair Livestock Auction. 

Lieutenant David Brittle also announced that Box had been confirmed as the 2016 recipient of the prestigious William Booth Award, which is one of the highest honors given by the Salvation Army. He will receive that award in the near future.