Choctaw-Nicoma Park principal celebrated for years of work
A Choctaw-Nicoma Park school principal got a big surprise Monday morning.
CHOCTAW, Okla. (KFOR) - A Choctaw-Nicoma Park school principal got a big surprise Monday morning. After working over 20 years there, the mayor dedicated an entire day to her.
That day is May 13.
Misti Tye didn’t expect to come into work Monday morning to cheers, hoops and hollers in her direction.
"I just can't even believe what they've done for me,” Tye said. "I just don't feel like I deserve this accolade."
If you ask her colleagues though, some with tears in their eyes, the Nicoma Park Intermediate School principal deserves that and so much more.
"As I would see Mrs. Tye throughout the years, I was always admiring her and looking up to her, even though she was younger than me,” one of her colleagues said at the podium during the assembly. “I adore her."
"Mrs. Tye has a genuine love for her students, for her staff and for the community,” another colleague said. “It's obvious in everything that she does."
A Choctaw Yellow Jacket graduate, Tye’s blood runs with the very colors of the school she’s worked in for two decades. She spent time as a teacher and won district teacher of the year before becoming principal. She’s also served on different committees and provided input and creativity as their curriculum evolved over the years, according to her colleagues. She helped create and implement a schoolwide writing contest called NPI WRITE! and led NPI (Nicoma Park Intermediate) in the district-wide initiative of Professional Learning Communities which she continues to oversee. In 2005, she led the way into them being the first school in the district to be awarded an OK-ACTS grant for funding classroom SMART boards.
"She definitely just needed a pat on the back and to let her know she's doing a good job,” school employee Kimberly Fairchild said.
Recently, she was given a UCO Outstanding Community Partner Award for being involved with students and professors from the library media and educational leadership departments in collaborating on special public relations projects. Tye was described as a kind and giving person and a tireless leader. However, this celebration went beyond kind words, as the Nicoma Park Mayor showed up and declared May 13 at “Misti Tye Day.”
"I'm very honored and so thankful for what they've done,” Tye said. "I have an amazing staff, amazing support system here and they just pick up the pieces and help me out and support me every way."