Tuesday was an important day at Yukon High School as Yukon school, City of Yukon and community leaders gathered for the Oklahoma Association of Student Councils (OASC)’s January board meeting.
This meeting held special significance for all stakeholders who attended because this November, Yukon will be host site for the state student council convention. This is a BIG deal.
Most of you are familiar with Darryl Andrews, who has taught at YHS since 1985 and has spent decades guiding Yukon’s young leaders as the school’s Student Council and Leadership Class adviser.
Darryl is a past Yukon Citizen of the Year, and his dedication and commitment to Yukon’s youth are unmatched.
Without Darryl and his efforts, Yukon would not be getting ready to welcome 3,000 student council delegates and advisers from more than 200 Oklahoma schools this November.
The OASC convention is indeed a BIG deal – and not just for YHS. It will bring thousands of people to our community to see all that Yukon has to offer.
Many of the visiting Oklahoma student leaders will be staying with host families and in local hotels during the state convention set Nov. 7-9.
Yukon’s restaurants and other businesses should expect an influx of traffic that weekend!
I think Yukon Chamber of Commerce retail members should join forces to offer special discounts to the state Student Council visitors and their families. Let’s all promote Yukon!
Darryl Andrews, OASC State Secretary Ella Stanley and the 110-member YHS Student Council leadership team want to make sure Yukon is well prepared for this major gathering. Committees consisting of students in grades 9-12 have started planning well in advance and have much work ahead.
To his credit, “Mr. A” has used forethought to enlist the help of Yukon’s movers and shakers – namely members of the Yukon City Council and Yukon School Board – to help during the planning process.
This isn’t Yukon’s first state StuCo rodeo. YHS hosted OASC’s state convention in 1982, 1993, 2006, 2010, and 2015. And in 2012, the national convention was here.
These past experiences will prove invaluable in coming months as plans take shape for the 2020 Oklahoma State Student Council convention in Yukon.
Yukon’s sprawling high school campus and it’s “state-of-the-art” (there’s that overused phrase again) facilities serve as an ideal venue to welcome 3,000 visiting students and advisers.
“At past OASC conferences, we always have (had) the largest attendance,” Mr. A reports. “With large facilities, community and administrator support, and an active student base, Yukon is the perfect place for this large annual conference.”
The slogan for the November state StuCo convention has a Hawaiian theme: “OASC means OHANA and OHANA means family.”
The three-day agenda will feature general sessions, break-out sessions, an exhibit hall for businesses and schools to have displays, student-led workshops, and student council candidate campaign workshops. Fun games and activities also are planned for student delegates.
How impressive that this bright group of Yukon students are spearheading efforts to organize and implemented this epic fall gathering.
Hats off to Mr. A and YHS Student Council leaders. I’ve known Darryl for nearly three decades and have always known him to see things through – whether that be a canned food collection, blood drive or leadership program.
Yukon residents and businesses are encouraged to climb on board to support YHS and Mr. Andrews as they plan November’s grand event. After all, it is a BIG deal for Yukon!
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It was great to see retired Yukon Fire Chief Kevin Jones at Wednesday’s retirement ceremony at fire station one for battalion chief Kent Long, who completed 33 years of service to the City of Yukon.
Kevin is very much enjoying retirement and spending time with grandkids. He now looks strikingly similar to Jeff Bridges’ character “The Dude” from the 1998 movie “The Big Lebowski” – complete with long hair and beard.
When he was Yukon’s clean-shaven and short-haired fire chief, Kevin was always so accommodating to me when I’d stop by the fire station for unannounced visits. I missed Kevin’s retirement ceremony while I was on an extended vacation in New Jersey.
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Next to retire from the Yukon Fire Department will be Battalion Chief Jimmy White, who will leave in April after an amazing 31 years at the YFD. Jimmy is the last Yukon firefighter remaining at from the time I started working in Yukon in May 1991.
