The 36th Ponca City Leadership Class held their session on education on Wednesday, Feb. 8. Leadership meets for 11 sessions during the course of their year with these sessions focusing on various topics including history, civic and human resources, industry, arts and culture, county government, education, different levels of government, education, and economic development. The group learns several important skills to meet Leadership’s objective to develop a group of well-informed leaders who plan to be active participants in the growth of the community.

The Leadership Class met at the Chamber Office at 7:30 am on Wednesday to board a bus to Roosevelt Elementary for a tour.

The class took a tour of the Board of Education building to hear from Ponca City Public Schools (PCPS) Superintendent Shelley Arrott, who also served as the day chair for the education session.

The class next moved to Ponca City High School to receive a tour of the remodeled high school commons area, which was then followed up by a tour of the Anderson STEM building.

Still under construction, the Anderson STEM (Science Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) building is anticipated to be open and available to student in the fall during the 2023-2024 school year. The space will be equipped with several state-of-the-art learning equipment and machines that will allow students to discover how to creatively solve problems. Some of the new curriculum options the district is pursuing include the field of aviation, aerospace, 3D printing and design, robotics, and e-sports.

Following the tour at Po-Hi, the class moved to Saint Mary’s Catholic School for a panel of private schools that included principals from Saint Mary’s and First Lutheran. This presentation was followed by a tour of St. Mary’s.

The Leadership class had lunch with their next speaker, Pioneer Technology Center (PTC) Superintendent Traci Thorpe, before then receiving a tour of PTC.

PTC had several updates in their Westward Expansion in 2022. These included the new cosmetology area, the teaching kitchen, and the over 7,000 square feet Conference Center.

The class moved to the University Center (UC) to meet with UC Executive Director Robyn Armstrong.

Following their session at UC, they went to Northern Oklahoma College (NOC) in Tonkawa to tour the facility with contact Kayla Wooderson.

After the tours, the class traveled back to the Chamber Office for a presentation from Chamber CEO Rich Cantillon.