Oklahoma News Report

New Partnership Make Health Care Accessible for Some Muskogee Students

By Cathy Tatom

I recently went to Irving Elementary in Muskogee to see its new on campus health clinic.

The clinic is staffed by a nurse practioner and LPN. These ladies are a bunch of fun, but very serious when it comes to caring for thier patients. They provide all the same sorts of services as a traditional doctor’s office, but without the wait. See how in this video.

Original post blogged on b2evolution.

Schools Goes From Nearly No Tech To Ultra High Tech

By Cathy Tatom

The tiny Swink School District in far Southeast Oklahoma is now one of the most technologically advanced districts in the nation.

It’s teachers all have I-pads, it’s classrooms are equipped with smartboards, and its students all have access to both I-pads and laptop computers.

I went Swink last week with photographer, Tim Carson. What we saw was pretty amazing. The kindergarten class was learning its numbers and how to write the alphabet on I-pads.

A sixth grader was using a downloaded I-book interactive science textbook. Students can tap on unfamiliar words to have a built in dictionary give the pronounciation and definition.

A teacher was using a smartboard and the I-pads to teach students how to read music and play the piano. The piano keyboards are an App available on the I-pads. Teachers were also using the smartboards to play classical music as students studied.

The most facinating part this district hardly had any technology just a couple of years ago. How they went from nearly no-tech, to totally high tech tonight on ONR.

Original post blogged on b2evolution.

Bartlesville's in the Movies

By Cathy Tatom

Bartlesville will soon have a starring role as the backdrop for a new “A” list movie. “A” list actors, “A” list director and “A” list crew according to Jill Simpson of the Oklahoma Film and Music Office.

However, Simpson won’t name names, at least not yet. She says the production company and crew are not ready to release that information. They do want people to know if they want to break into movies open casting calls will be held at Bartlesville High School on Saturday and Sunday.

You don’t need professional acting experience or even a head shot and resume. All you need to do is show up. They’ll take your picture and availablity information to be put into the database of prospective extras.

Shooting on the major motion picture is scheduled to begin in September.

Original post blogged on b2evolution.

Poteau Main Street

Lots of communities are turning to the Main Street Program to help encourage businesses to move back into downtown districts. The program helps businesses owners and operators refurbish and restore buildings to attract new customers and tourists. It also help communities improve infrasture like moving unsightly wires underground, upgrade sidewalks to make them more pedestrian friendly, and more.

Check out how having a Main Street Program is help Poteau revitalize it’s historic downtown district in this report.

I’d also like to thanks the folks in Poteau for inviting us down to see several projects the town is involved in to reinvent its downtown area and preserve its history. In the coming days and weeks we’ll be featuring some of those projects and the suprising aspects of Oklahoma’s history they unveil. Stay tuned, this is cool stuff!

Original post blogged on b2evolution.

Building Castles for Soldiers

by Cathy Tatom:

Drive down some of Oklahoma’s busiest highways and you find construction projects where it appears someone is building huge castles.

What are they? The new armed services reserve training centers. The enormous buildings are about to replace dozens of the state’s tiny old WPA era armories as the site of reserve training courses.

Come inside the castle being built in Muskogee with me to see how high tech and huge these things really are. The marvel when you realize this is about the smallest of the seven facilities being built across the state!

Original post blogged on b2evolution.

High Tech = Increased Success

By Cathy Tatom:

I had a really great visit with Professor Lowenthal at NSU, Tahlequah. He showed me how he is using podcasts and You-Tube to give his students a better educational experience.

He’s putting enhanced lectures on the net to give students a new way to study using the high tech equipment they can’t seem to live without these days like smart phones, I-pads and laptop computers.

Check out the video, it’s a really cool way to keep up with school and Lowenthal says it’s possible for teachers of any grade level to create the same sorts of videos for very little money.

Original post blogged on b2evolution.

Prescription Pain Pill Abuse

Oklahoma is at the top when it comes to prescription pain medication abuse. The finding comes from a new study ordered by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

Agencies working to curb the abuse tell OETA there are many reasons for the abuse. Doctors often prescribe a large number of highly addictive pain pills or write prescriptions that can be refilled multiple times. The prescriptions are written to deal with a legitimate medical problem, but the quantity sets the stage for addiction to occur.

Patients addicted to pain medications often go to multiple doctors to get pain medications prescribed by each one. The practice is called doctor shopping. The police chief in Chelsea was recently arrested for illegally obtaining thousands of pain pills by getting prescriptions from at least ten different doctors.

Or, doctors fail to warn patients of the addictive nature of pain medications.

To curb the problem, agencies like The Tulsa Area Prevention Resource Center and the Mental Health Association urge doctors to use the state’s voluntary program to track pain medication prescriptions. They’re also urging the legislature to make the program mandatory. Michael Brose of the Mental Health Association says, “I know there’ll be resistance to it because just the logistics and the hours and cost in implementing that, but we do know that for example with our meth issue that we’ve had long-standing one of the big things that really curtailed that was putting some mandates, legal mandates in terms of how much someone could actually obtain and they had to sign for it.”

Original post blogged on b2evolution.

Musicians Help Fight Bias, Bigotry & and Racism

Original post blogged on b2evolution.