EDMOND — The Edmond City Council and the Character Council of Edmond recently recognized two Edmond women as Champions of Character: Karen Stillwell for her character trait of patience, and Cheryl Segrest for her character trait of responsibility.

The character trait of patience might be defined as “accepting a difficult situation without giving a deadline to remove it,” which is what prompted Oklahoma Christian Middle School’s Kathy Essmiller to nominate Karen Stillwell as a Champion of Character.

“Karen is our school secretary, without fail, graciously, kindly and with love manages the Oklahoma Christian Middle School,” Essmiller wrote in her nomination. “Under her care, the Middle School office is a safe haven in which students and faculty can receive help and guidance. She helps the administration and student bodies navigate innumerable challenging situations, and is never rattled.”

The benefit of Stillwell’s patience, Essmiller added, is that, “She helps create an atmosphere in which the fruit of’ the spirit flourish!”

After living in Florida for 26 years, the Stillwell family moved to Edmond in August 2006, when her husband Matt Stillwell was appointed the director of the Edmond Central Communications and Emergency Management. Both Karen and Matt Stillwell agree, they are glad with the change and love living in Oklahoma.

“We had our boys in a Christian school in Florida so it was important for us to continue with that,” Stillwell said. “We feel so blessed to have both of our boys attend Oklahoma Christian School. Christopher our oldest was here for his senior year only and Jon has attended since eighth grade and now is a junior.”

Karen started working at OCS the following summer of August 2007. “I am the middle school administrative assistant,” said Stillwell, “which means I deal with 260 fifth- through eighth-grade students and 20 teachers. I do say that I love every minute of my job, but at times it can be very crazy.”

Stillwell’s biggest influence toward her patient nature, she said, would be her mom and grandfather.



SEGREST PERSONIFIES RESPONSIBILITY

If you define the character trait of responsibility as “knowing and doing what is expected of me,” then Edmond’s Chisholm Elementary School Principal Joann Graham’s nomination of Cheryl Segrest, who continues to volunteer at the school where her children once attended, would be a fitting match.

“Cheryl stands in our lobby and greets students and parents as they enter the building,” Graham wrote. “She greets them with a smile or a hug and directs them to the proper location. She assumes this responsibility even though she has no children enrolled at Chisholm.”

The benefit, according to Graham, is that, “Safety is the byproduct of this lady’s responsible acts. Approximately 300 students pass through her care daily. The pleasant greeting and individualized attention provide an excellent start for the children’s school day. We appreciate these responsible adults sharing their mornings with our Chisholm families.”

Graham, and the staff at Chisholm agree, “Cheryl is compassionate about helping others. She sees a need and takes care of it.”

One teacher says Segrest is humble.

“Cheryl can’t really be called a volunteer,” Chisholm fourth-grade teacher Becky Shryock said, “because she doesn’t ‘volunteer’ for many of the things she does.

“She just can’t stop herself from loving people, caring for them, and showing true concern and empathy for others. When you bring these ‘good deeds’ to her attention, to thank her, or to praise her, she is genuinely surprised, because it comes from her heart and is a natural expression of just who Cheryl Segrest is.”

The Segrest family has lived in Edmond for about 10 years now, Cheryl Segrest said. She and her husband have two children, Austin, a freshman at Memorial High School, and Courtney, a seventh-grader at Cimarron Middle School.

“I just love volunteering at my children’s schools in any way I can,” Segrest said. “I love meeting new people and talking to everyone, no one is a stranger to me.”

Character president Jim Hulsey said it is a pleasure for his organization to honor these two women.

“Each Edmond school, either public or private, participates to some degree in character education. What an added plus it is that we find such wonderful good character mentors among the non-teaching population at the schools,” Hulsey said.

The Character Council is a grassroots, nonprofit, organization committed to creating a citywide initiative to build Edmond into a “Community of Character.” The group believes that the character of a nation can only be strengthened one person at a time, one community at a time. Toward that end the Character Council of Edmond seeks to recognize residents who demonstrate character, as witnessed by those who have been affected and influenced.



TO NOMINATE a resident as a “Champion of Character,” one who exemplifies these character traits, log on to www.edmondcharacter.org or write: Champions of Character, P.O. Box 392, Edmond OK 73083-0392.