Oklahoma's Teacher of the Year is proud of her Marlow heritage

Rachel Keith, a Marlow-native, is the 2024 Oklahoma Teacher of the Year.

Rachel is a 10th — 12th Grade AP Language & Composition, Mock Trial, and Humanities teacher at Ada High School of Ada City Schools and has taught ELA classes for 19 years.

Keith fondly recalled her childhood in Marlow, stating:

“I spent most of my childhood growing up in Marlow during the 1970s and 80s,” said Keith. I remember walking to school every day. It was always fun to see how many other kids my brother and I would meet on our way to school. Some of my favorite memories include the joy of getting to go the Little Store across from the elementary school at lunch, the long walks to Marlow Middle School from my house every morning, spending time at the Marlow pool every summer, or walking to Hop n Sak for lunch with my friends as a freshman at MHS.”

“I also remember when Pizza Hut came to town. I think it opened during my junior year of high school. We would all run to our cars to be first in line at lunch for our $3.00 personal pan pizza or breadsticks and a drink. Underclassmen would beg for rides in order to go with us. We had so much fun every day with our friends and Pizza Hut always had the pizzas ready and waiting for us. (Lunch was obviously very important to me as a kid!”

But above all else, Keith had one true love growing up:

“I loved marching band more than anything in the world, so I always counted the days until football season. My older brother was in the band as well, and my parents were very involved with the band parent organization. I spent so many evenings hanging out at the football and basketball concession stands with all the band parents, just waiting to be old enough to be in the Outlaw Marching Band.”

It was that love that would lead her to another: her husband.

“I met my husband, Jimmy Keith while in the Marlow High band. He is a 1988 graduate of Marlow High School and was the drum major his senior year. I had the joy of following him as the drum major for the next two years. Mr. Foley, my high school band director, encouraged me so much that after I graduated from MHS in 1990, I actually started out as a music education major at the University of Central Oklahoma before getting married in 1992.”

Keith said that growing up in Marlow gave her the chance to grow up in a very special and safe environment, “To me, growing up in Marlow gave me the opportunity to really be a kid in a safe, caring environment. From Sunday morning services at the Marlow Assembly of God church, youth group car washes, fireworks at Redbud Park, to junior/senior prom in the elementary cafeteria, my life was truly blessed by my corner of small-town America.”

On being named the 2024 Teacher of the Year, Keith said that it was a tremendous honor:

“Being named the 2024 Oklahoma State Teacher of the Year is such an honor. I am overwhelmed by the love and support of so many friends, family, peers, and well-wishers. The other nine finalists are an amazing group of teachers from around the state. I was honored just to be part of the group, so it was extremely exciting to be named the winner.”

Being recognized as Teacher of the Year was more than just a title and a certificate. To Keith it is a chance to be a voice and force for change.

“I am humbled to have the opportunity to be the voice of Oklahoma teachers this year. I hope to encourage and uplift teachers around our state as they work hard every day to build up the next generation.”

Keith and her family moved to Ada 19 years ago when her husband took the pastorate of Ada

First Assembly of God.

“All four of our children became Ada Cougars and I joined their ranks in 2012 when I took a position at Ada Junior High. Teaching in Ada is great because of the long-standing Cougar traditions,” Keith said.

“These traditions help build a strong sense of community among the students and the staff, much like it is in Marlow.”

“I am currently at Ada High School teaching Advanced Placement Language and Composition, Humanities 1 and I’ve coached the AHS Mock Trial team for the past 6 years. Jimmy and I have so much in common with many Ada teachers because so many of us began as Marlow Outlaws before moving to Ada. We have a shared heritage.”

But what brought Keith into education in the first place?

“I had so many teachers throughout the Marlow School system that influenced me

in positive ways that I truly credit them for building my desire to become a

Teacher,” Keith explained.

“The quiet influences that left the biggest mark on my life came from three of my English teachers: Mrs. Freeman, my 7th grade English teacher, Mrs. Peterson, my Junior English teacher, and Mrs. Shackleford, my Senior English teacher.”

“These three ELA teachers had a way of drawing me into a text. I had always been an avid reader, but learning to analyze a text and build an argument helped me find my own voice so that I could communicate my point of view to the rest of the world. Their influence led me to pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in English.”

Teaching in Oklahoma can be a battle, but Keith doesn’t let that discourage her:

“The politics around education, like anything else, can get in the way of what teachers are trying to do. But I have determined to simply work hard every day in my classroom for my students and leave the politics in the parking lot.”

When asked what the most important thing about being a teacher was to Keith, she said it was helping students find their voice, much as Marlow’s educators found hers as a youth.

“The most important thing to me about being a teacher is helping my students find their voice. So many students walk into a school, no matter how many years they’ve lived in the same town, and never find a place to belong. They never find their group, their voice, their home. Yet this is the very issue that often keeps students from reaching their full potential. But it doesn't have to be this way.”

She continued:

“Teachers can open the door and welcome every student into a room where they can belong. Where they see themselves and they are seen. That is the opportunity I now can fully realize in my own classroom. I understand that my students need to feel like they belong, like they have a voice, like they are noticed before I can ever teach them anything.”

“As a result, I work to learn every student’s name by the end of the second week of school. I believe the first step towards belonging is being known. By name. So I use a number of funny ways to interact with students from the beginning and give myself the first “pop quiz” of the year by testing myself every hour with their names until I get it right.”

“I don't even use a seating chart. I've watched student's eyes dance with glee, wondering if I'll get their name. And I've watched them learn each other's names at the same time. (Believe it or not, Ada is big enough that often students don't know the person sitting next to them.) From day one, I want my students to feel like they belong, in that seat, in that hour, in my classroom.”

Outside of education, Rachel and her husband Jimmy have been married for 32 years and have 4 children, 4 grandchildren, and one grandchild on the way.

“We have raised a family of educators. While my husband serves as Lead Pastor of Ada First

Assembly of God, he also teaches AP U.S. History and A.P. European History at AHS. Our oldest daughter, Kayla Blaine teaches at Ada Junior High, our two sons, Josh Keith and Jaron Keith teach in the history department at AHS, and our youngest daughter just graduated from East Central University with plans to become a teacher as well.”

Keith still has ties in Marlow, she explained.

“My parents, Farrell and Marolyn Bridges still live in the same house in Marlow where I grew up as a child. In fact, my Dad currently drives a bus for Marlow schools. We enjoy coming back to Marlow to see all the changes happening around town. We can’t wait to see the completion of the new buildings around MHS.”

And travel, that’s an important part of Keith’s life as well, she said.

“We love to travel! We have traveled throughout much of the United States, collecting our passport stamps from National Parks. In fact, we started the World Traveler’s Club at AHS in order to help our students see the world beyond Pontotoc County. During this last school year, we took students to the Wichita Mountain Wildlife Refuge, the OKC Myriad Gardens, and the Museum of Osteology.”

“We also took a trip with both students and parents this summer to the

Eastern Seaboard, touring Boston, NYC, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C. Our goal is to enrich students’ understanding of the world around them through experiences outside of the classroom walls.”