Cushing Chamber of Commerce held a reception Monday, Nov. 22nd to honor November’s Business After School recipients. “Business After School is one of the most prestigious programs that we do,” Chamber Director Brent Thompson said. “It is important to our community to take the time to honor our educators, their support help and our high school seniors.”
Those honored at Monday’s reception were: CHS seniors Chandler Payne and Michael Griffin, Deep Rock kindergarten teacher Denice Kennedy and support person Janice Cooper.
Thompson read a little bit about each of the honorees before presenting them with a framed certificate and several gifts from local sponsors.
Chandler Payne said in her spare time she enjoys “hanging out with ‘the B crew’ and reading. The book she is currently reading is “Marcelo in the Real World”. She said she likes the book because the main character “is overcoming his autism-like condition.” She loves Italian food and admits to being “really good at writing stories or making them up.” If she could spend the day with anyone, she would love to be able to spend the day with her friend Courtney Marcum because she misses her so much. As for Chandler’s future – she plans on going to UCO for pre-med and then on to OU for endocrinology.
Michael Griffin said he enjoys hanging out with friends in his spare time. He is currently engrossed in the book “In Cold Blood” – “it’s pretty exciting,” Griffin said. Like many teens, pizza is his favorite food. “I can’t get enough of it,” he said. If he could spend the day with anyone of his choosing, he would spend it with Hall of Famer Jerry Rice. “He’s the greatest of all time.” When asked to brag on himself a little, Michael said, “I’m really, really fast! Probably the fastest in the school.” After college, he plans to “get started” on his life.
Denice Kennedy is married to Joe Kennedy and the mother of “two amazing children” Caden, 5, and Carlie, 8 months old. In her spare time, she enjoys taking photos and scrapbooking them, teaches Sunday School at Putnam City Baptist Church in Oklahoma City as well as serving on the technical team during worship services there, Cushing Community Theatre – behind the scenes and on stage, and is involved in the AWANAS program at First Baptist Church in Cushing. In her “spare” time, she enjoys quality time with her family and friends, eating out, going to the movies and shopping. One of the books Denice recently enjoyed is “Have You Filled A Bucket Today?” “It’s a book about positive words and actions; encouraging people to be ‘bucket fillers’ instead of ‘bucket dippers,"” Denice wrote. Her greatest joy as a teacher was Senior Day last year. “It was a proud moment,” she said. “Seeing my former Kindergarten/First Grade students and hearing how I had an impact in their lives was priceless.”
Janice Cooper has been married to Curtis Cooper for 28 years and they have two sons, Jayson, 25 and Nathan, 21. She enjoys camping, church, and time with her family. She is a member of the First Free Will Baptist Church, is the Women’s Sunday School teacher, Praise & Worship team member and treasurer of WACO (Women Active for Christ in Oklahoma). In her spare time, she enjoys reading and watching HGTV. Janice went on to say that if she could spend the day with anyone, it would be her husband. “I LOVE spending time with my husband Curtis!” She said the greatest joy about her job is not only helping people outside of the school system, but also working with the teachers and support staff and helping them with whatever they need.
Cushing Chamber of Commerce would like to thank all the sponsors of Business After School: Aqua Pleasures, Bank of Cushing, Cushing Lumber, Escott’s, Naifeh’s, Steer Inn and Walmart.
The next Business After School reception will be held Jan. 24, 2011.
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