DURANT, Okla. –  The purpose of the First Lady’s tour is to raise awareness of adverse childhood experiences and brain health, and how Oklahoma can invest in its children from birth to five years of age for a healthier and more productive Oklahoma. The Hope Tour represents a partnership between the First Lady’s Office and the Potts Family Foundation. 

Teacher Miranda Matlock’s Head Start class of a dozen three-to-five-year-olds treated the wife of Gov. Kevin Stitt to an alphabet song. Upon finishing the number, she said, “Thank you, you did an amazing job on your song.” As she prepared to leave, a small voice in the classroom asked, “Can I give you a hug?” Stitt kneeled down and was swamped by one child after another. “This is turning into a hugfest,” she laughed.

“Yakoke” (Thank you) and “Chi pisa la chike” (See you later) rang out from the preschoolers as Stitt left for another classroom.

Stitt read aloud the picture book “Adventure on Klickitat Island” by Hilary Horder Hippely to Lacy Ritterhouse’s Head Start class. At “The End” children noticed that she had brought a couple of other books with her and began asking her to read another one. Clearly feeling welcome and having a good time, but on a tight schedule, the first lady agreed to return and read to them again. Her response was met with squeals and applause.

Amanda Johnson, director of Choctaw Nation Child Care and Head Start, led the first lady and her group through the facility. From Infant Care to the Before-and-After School youth sections, and from the colorful playground to the high-tech classrooms, Stitt got a firsthand view the lauded program.

Johnson made the announcement to the first lady and to the public that the Choctaw Nation Tribal Council has recently approved a new childcare center that will serve an additional 272 children. “Ground will be broken on the $20 million center in January 2020,” Johnson said. Construction will be on the Durant campus. Currently, the waiting list for admission to the existing Durant center is almost 500. The new center also means dozens of new fulltime jobs in the childcare field.

“I am thankful for the investment that the Choctaw Nation makes in our early childhood programs,” Johnson said. “We serve 620 children at 21 locations within the Choctaw Nation. Our staff members are highly trained educators who are passionate about our most precious resource, our children. From birth to preschool, our classrooms follow research-based curriculum that promotes independence, resilience, and language and literacy development.”

Stacy Shepherd, executive officer of Choctaw Nation Member Services, which oversees tribal education, added about the program, “When I visit one of our Choctaw Nation Child Care facilities, I’m excited and want to be a kid again, back in school. Throughout history, the Choctaw Nation has placed a high value on education and understands the long-term impact of this early investment. Top priority is to provide a safe, learning environment with trained teachers to not only teach a curriculum for cognitive growth but also focus on building a creative, persevering, self-confident, self-controlled child ready for the school.”

After her initial stop at the childcare center, the first lady toured the Choctaw Nation Headquarters, then headed to Southeastern Oklahoma State University. There she participated in a panel discussion on “Resilience: The Biology of Stress and the Science of Hope” and screened a documentary film of the same name.