Halfway There

We began the day in Tulsa with a wake up call almost three hours later than the day before and those few hours of sleep were truly a gift. The students enjoyed the night in our hotel in downtown Tulsa and woke up ready to start the day!

Our first stop of the day was at one of the three Educares located in Tulsa. Educare specializes in teaching and training children from birth to three years old in order to make sure the transition into the school system goes smoothly. We walked through the facilities and saw different classrooms specializing in certain age ranges and other areas. The teachers try to emulate a home life in which the child feels supported, encouraged and empowered. As we walked through the classrooms we were greeted with smiling faces and lots of high fives from children of all ages. We loved getting to see the students learn in such new and innovative ways! Our students had some incredible questions for the faculty and staff at Educare and it was awesome to see some of them share the passions and aspirations for working with children someday.

After Educare, we heard from directors of Camp Anytown, which is put on by The Oklahoma Center for Community and Justice. Camp Anytown is a camp for high schoolers to come together in a peaceful setting and bring their individual experiences of their diverse cultural, ethnic, religious, racial, and economic backgrounds. The directors led activities for our students to open their eyes to the diverse backgrounds of our group and grow respect and awareness for each other in a new way.

We drove straight to our lunch at El Guapo's after our diversity training. We enjoyed delicious fajitas and chips and salsa before heading to our next stop.


After our lunch we made our way to the FabLab, an engineering firm full of creative and innovative technological software. From 3D printers and more, our students were able to experience how technology is being used within inner-city communities and beyond.

We left Tulsa and made our way to Stillwater for a stop at the Eskimo Joe’s Printing Press with CEO and Founder, Stan Clark. Stan shared with us the story of how Eskimo Joe’s was founded in Stillwater almost 41 years ago and how the company has expanded into what they are today. We toured the facility and saw firsthand the process of t-shirt creation. Traveling through the production facility as t-shirts, we made the rounds all the way from the graphic design department to the finishing room. The finishing room is where employees fold shirts manually to reveal a special piece of the logo on each shirt while also making it easy for buyers to sort through their shirts.  This process sets Eskimo Joe’s apart from other retailers and it exemplifies the interest this company has in doing the most and the best for their customers.

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After traveling to Eskimo Joe’s we made our way to America’s greatest university—Oklahoma State! We trekked across campus and toured largest student union in the country (This is actually true!) Following the tour we made our way to Eskimo Joe’s for dinner!

We were treated to cheese fries, a glorious entrée, and milkshakes at Eskimo Joe’s. After eating and shopping around, it was time to check into our hotel for the night. There were lots of snacks, Frisbee games, and fun at the pool before everyone called it a night. It’s an early one in the morning with a big day of excitement ahead!