"These awards highlight not only the exceptional talent within our organization but also the strength of our mission to prepare our customers for success in the workplace.”
Francis Tuttle Technology Center staff were recognized with several awards at this year’s Oklahoma CareerTech conference, including Teacher of the Year.
The awards were presented at the 2025 Oklahoma Association for Career and Technology Education (OkACTE) Summit, the annual summer conference for CareerTech schools, in Tulsa. Francis Tuttle Superintendent and CEO Dr. Michelle Keylon won the Arch Alexander Award, and Criminal Justice Instructor Johnnie Loudermilk was recognized as the 2025 OkACTE Teacher of the Year.
Lauren VanOsdol, an instructor in the Pre-Nursing program, won the Carl Perkins Community Service Award. Director of Financial Aid Kurt Grau and Project HOPE Principal Randa Pirrong received Dennis Portis Rising Star Awards.
“We are incredibly proud of our Francis Tuttle team members who have been recognized with some of the highest honors in career and technical education,” Keylon said. “Earning the Teacher of the Year, Carl Perkins Community Service Award, and the Dennis Porter Rising Star Award is a testament to their excellence, dedication, and unwavering commitment to student success and community impact. These awards highlight not only the exceptional talent within our organization but also the strength of our mission to prepare our customers for success in the workplace.”
The Arch Alexander Award recognizes an educator who has contributed to program development in Oklahoma CareerTech. Under Keylon’s leadership, Francis Tuttle has increased access by adding programs or expanding programs to meet student demand, including welding, manufacturing, aerospace, nursing, cosmetology, culinary arts, and graphic design.
“Receiving this award was an unexpected and overwhelming experience,” Keylon said. “I am honored to have received such a prestigious award, and I’m also honored to work at Francis Tuttle with such a passionate group of people that are focused on innovation to support student access to career and technology education. Over the past year, we have expanded programs to meet the increasing student demand. As a result, we have approximately 500 more enrollments for 2025-26 as we did last year.”
Loudermilk has been in education for 25 years and launched the Criminal Justice Program at the Francis Tuttle Reno Campus in 2013. Prior to that, he launched the same program at Metro Tech and taught there for eight years.
The Criminal Justice Program trains high school and post-secondary students who want to enter law enforcement. Many of these students go on to the OKC Police Department Cadet program and become professional officers with the department.
"When my students return to visit the class after they have graduated and started their careers, I love for them to tell their stories to current students about how they got their start,” Loudermilk said. “I always encourage my students to never forget where they came from and that Francis Tuttle is always their home.”
Van Osdol is an instructor in the Pre-Nursing program at the Danforth Campus. This program prepares high school and post-secondary students for careers in the nursing field.
The Carl Perkins Community Service Award recognizes individuals who have made a significant impact on their community through CareerTech, with a particular focus on student involvement.
VanOsdol’s class serves the community through volunteer work at Edmond Hope Center, the Bethany Children’s Center, and Skyline Food Pantry. She said this reinforces that the nursing profession is, above everything else, caring for others.
Pirrong is the administrator for Project HOPE, Francis Tuttle’s high school dropout retrieval program. Students who have dropped out or are in danger of dropping out work on their high school education in a new environment while spending half of their days at a career training program.
Grau is the Director of Francis Tuttle’s Financial Aid program. He administers assistance through federal and state grants, scholarships, and benefits to veterans and members of the military.