Charity Eackens

Q: Tell me about your background. Where are you from? Where did you go to school?

A: “I grew up in McAllister, I attended high school there. I went to school and college at East Central.”

Q: How did you get into education, and how long have you been in education?

A: “I have been in education now since 2009. I taught school and I also worked for the Chickasaw Nation in their education department, and now I am here. I got into education because I said I was never going to. My mom is an educator who saw how hard teachers worked for many long hours… And I said I was never going to do it. But I feel like it’s my calling and where I am really truly supposed to be and so I gave in to that and decided I was going to do it.”

Q: What’s your job description?

A: “I am the director of Indian Education, which means I head up a team that includes myself, Michelle Johnson, and Kelly Maloy, and we serve the Native students that attend Ada City Schools. We provide them with school supplies, we help ordinate tutoring should they need it, we help set up counseling appointments, we take them on college visits, we’re really just lieson between the school and the native community, and how we can best serve those students.”

Q: What’s your favorite part of your job and why?

A: “So far it’s just been getting to know the students and build relationships with them. That was one of my favorite parts about being a classroom teacher…getting to know my students and their families and that’s what I’m enjoying right now and what I look forward to moving forward.”

Q: Why did you decide to come to Ada High and how do you feel about it so far?

A: “This job just kind of fell in my lap, I was working for the Chickasaw nation and really looking for another position. And this opened up, and a friend of mine told me, why don’t you apply for it? I thought yeah that sounds great, it would give me the chance to get back into a school study and to work with students and their families. So I did, that’s how I ended up here. It wasn’t honestly even on my radar, but I’ve been here since Aug. 1st and I love it, I love being at the high school, and getting to interact with the students, and all of the other staff here. So, so far I would give it a ten out of ten.”

Q: What’s your favorite animal and why?

A: “I am a dog person, I think…they’re full of energy and are loyal. I love dogs because they just kind of go with the flow if you’re about being active. They might want to go run with you at the park or if you are just chilling, watching TV, they just want to lay there with you. So definitely a dog.”

Q: Is there anything that you are excited for about this school year?

A: “I’m just really excited to be back into a public school and to get to work with students and get to interact with them. I love things like homecoming weeks and spirit weeks and just all of the fun stuff that goes on at the school.”

Q: What do you like most about AHS so far?

A: “I just really think that it’s a good place to work from the perspective of a director, not really a teacher. I see a lot of people: all the councilors, all the teachers, all of the support staff that care about the students and I really want to make an impact in student’s lives. I am excited to be a part of that.”

Q: What are your expectations for the school year?

A: “My biggest focus this year is going to be getting to know my students and their families and building relationships. The directors previous to me, Jinger McClure and Tatum Sallee, did a great job with this program, it’s in great shape. I feel like I can just kind of keep that ship sailing on the right course and I can spend this year getting to know people.”

Q: What led you to your job?

A: “Like I said, I have been in education since 2009. I was raised around education. This job kind of combines all the things that I love: I love teaching, I love being with students and seeing them learn and grow, and push themselves out of their comfort zones or being pushed out of their comfort zones. And then when I went to work for the Chickasaw Nation in their education, it was a big focus on Native students and this job kind of allows me to have the best of both worlds. I have a passion for helping Native students. I was a JOM student growing up and had a lot of help and support, and so I get to combine the two things that I am passionate about. So that’s kind of what led me to this position.”