November Bears of the Month - Randy and Susan Kersey

November is a month reserved for practicing gratitude - and we are beyond grateful for our November Bears of the Month, Randy and Susan Kersey!

You would be hard pressed to find another couple that exemplifies the spirit of the Noble community than this beloved duo. Randy and Susan have devoted their time, resources, and hearts toward making sure that education is a focus of this entire community and the Noble Public Schools Foundation is supremely grateful for all they have contributed to enrich our students and families over the years.

Wherever the Kersey’s are, there is love surrounding them.

Susan Kersey was born in Ft. Monmouth, NJ. As sailor's daughter she moved quite a bit, finally settling in McAlester, OK. She graduated from Savanna High School in 1980 and attended East Central University in Ada, where she received her Bachelors of Arts in Speech and Drama, with a minor in the very new Library Science. Susan met Randy at ECU and they married in 1984. Their sons came in 1987 and 1988 and they bought their first home in Noble, where Susan fell in love with this town immediately! She didn't begin her teaching career until after my sons, Jason and Kevin, were in school. Katherine I. Daily was very instrumental in that decision - Susan had taken a tutoring job at Crosstimbers Elementary and Katherine, the principal, had looked at her employment application and saw that she had a Library Science background. For the first time in that school, because the student numbers were increasing, they needed an assistant in the library. Susan was privileged to work with and for the librarian, Linda Huddleston. Knowing Linda was retiring soon, Katherine secretly scheduled a meeting for Susan at ECU, paid the $10 to update my teaching certification and announced that she wanted her as the next librarian! There were some bumps along the way and sad to say, Katherine passed away before Susan graduated, but she received her Masters in Library Science! She was employed at Katherine I Daily Elementary for 19 years, most of them in the Library. In 2009, Susan recieved the honor of NPS District Teacher of the Year, the first librarian ever selected. In 2017, she received the Professional Oklahoma Educators Foundation Kathy Cox Elementary Educator Merit Finalist. Teaching had become her ministry and she loved creating lessons and seeing the students’ response to those lessons. She was determined to make books come alive for every child (her drama background came in very handy!) In 2018, Susan and Randy’s son and daughter-in-law announced that we were to become first time grandparents! It was at this time, Susan made the difficult, but very happy decision to become a full time Nana. Most of her days are now spent with grandson, Oliver. She also volunteers at Pioneer Intermediate Library and will be visiting our elementary schools to listen to and to read to students. Reading changes lives - and that is living life to the fullest!

Randy is a second generation Noble High School graduate, graduating in 1980, having attended all of his school years at Noble. From a very early age he was involved in many activities including youth sports and 4-H. In Junior High and High School, Randy tried just about everything, but during his senior year he focused on baseball, football, FFA and academics. He participated in Model UN, student council, National Honor Society and Oklahoma Boys State. His senior year, Randy was All-District quarterback in football and Little All City pitcher and shortstop in baseball. He won the English IV award and received the Presidential Leadership Scholarship to OU, OSU, East Central and Murray State. Randy attended East Central University in Ada and majored in Business Administration, earning the School of Business academic scholarship and graduating with High Honors in 1984. Randy told us he met Susan at East Central in 1980 and they became very close friends, but didn't start dating until 1982. They were married after graduation in 1984 and Randy went to work for Wal-Mart in their Management Training program, moving from Ada to McAlester to Newcastle. In 1988, he joined Mid America Vo-Tech as their Small Business Management Training Coordinator, and later moved to the same position at Moore-Norman Vo-Tech. During those years he was recognized as the Oklahoma Vocational Association Marketing Teacher of the Year and served as the State President of the OVA Marketing Ed Division. For the past 16 years Randy has been a Financial Advisor for Edward Jones. Since moving back to Noble in 1989, community service has been very important to Randy, particularly serving youth. He coached little league baseball for 14 years and served as President or Vice President of NYSA for a portion of that time. Randy served on the Noble Schools Board of Education and, along with Susan for her work in PTA, received the Friend of Education Award in 1996 from the Noble Association of Classroom Teachers. In 2000, Randy was a founding member of the Bear Down Club and served as the President for the first three years of its existence. He also served on the Noble Schools Foundation Board and am a two time past president during which time the Fifty for 50 Campaign began. He served as a founding board member of the non profit Oklahoma Honor Flights organization, organizing, funding and escorting Oklahoma World War II Veterans to Washington DC to visit the memorials built in their honor.

Susan and Randy feel very strongly that we should support the young people of our community with our time and treasure, because when they were kids, people were there to support them. They have provided scholarships to Noble graduating seniors since 2012.

We caught up with Randy and Susan to ask them a few questions about their lives and what has molded them to become the incredible couple they are today. Here is what they shared with us:

WHO WERE YOUR MOST IMPACTFUL TEACHERS AND WHY?

SUSAN: I loved most all my teachers every step of my educational journey. I would have to say that the teachers who most impacted my life were my sons' kindergarten and first grade teachers, Ms. Karen Burr and Mrs. Karen King. They not only helped me become a responsible parent, but showed me what great teachers are. They were kind, but held their expectations very high for their students AND parents. And why not? They demanded those expectations of themselves as well. Katherine Daily also impacted my life. She lived for "her" kids and all who worked for her became custodians of her passion.

RANDY: My most impactful teachers, other than Mrs. Kersey of course, were English teacher Kathryn Adkins, Social Studies and history teacher Pat Leveridge and Football Coach Ashley Rutherford. Coach Rutherford challenged me and about things that I wasn't sure I could do . . . Perseverance, mental and physical toughness, effort, teamwork. He believed in us and was a great moral guide and leader. To this day, I cringe at the thought of disappointing him. Ms. Adkins and Mrs. Leveridge challenged in a different way. They challenged me in the things that i was "sure of". They forced me to think, question and to justify and articulate what I thought I already knew. They showed me windows to the world that I hadn't looked thru and didn't know were there.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE MEMORY OF GROWING UP IN NOBLE?

RANDY: The graduating classes of 1979, 1980 and 1981 were very close. Many of us attended all 12 years at Noble. We had a lot of great kids who challenged each other in positive ways academically and in extra curricular activities. We were competitive but there was very little jealousy and we enjoyed and celebrated each others' successes, and still do to this day. Most of my best friends from those days are still my best friends today. And I love how my friends loved my teacher Mom and my ornery Dad . . . and how my parents loved my friends.

WHAT ADVICE DO YOU HAVE FOR THE CURRENT STUDENTS OF NOBLE?

SUSAN: Work hard on interpersonal relationships. Put phones down and turn social media off during school, at mealtimes and when you are with family. Learn to work through problems face to face. Look at people. Listen to people. Read as many books as you can! Reading is the most important thing you will ever learn. Discuss what you read. Surround yourself with people who will help make you accountable and make you the best person you can be.

RANDY: What you do today matters. Don't squander your opportunities. Things won't always be fair. You will fail, but it doesn't have to be permanent. What matters is what you do after you fail. Don't dwell on your mistakes. Be bold, don't defeat yourself with self doubt. You live in a great country with great opportunity. You deserve opportunity . . . but you are ENTITLED to nothing.

WHAT IS YOUR PERSONAL DEFINITION OF SUCCESS?

SUSAN: Being loved and respected and making a positive difference in the lives of your family and of the many people you meet in this journey called Life.

RANDY: Make a positive difference for the people you touch. Keep things in balance. A very wise person once told me that a successful person must strive to stay healthy in four ways :

Relationships (friend and family)
Physically (health)
Spiritually (God)
and Financially

I'm still working on it.

Susan and Randy are long time supporters of the the Noble Public Schools Foundation. If you would like to join them in supporting our mission of enhancing academic excellence for NPS classrooms, join our Legacy Club today and partner with us for monthly giving - any amount is appreciated!

GIVE NOW TO HONOR THE LEGACY OF RANDY AND SUSAN KERSEY:

https://www.noblepsfoundation.org/donate