The Tulsa Mayor's Office of Workforce Development celebrated the accomplishments of individuals sponsored by the Tulsa Workforce Investment Act (WIA) for their efforts at facing and overcoming some of life's toughest obstacles during a Thursday morning breakfast meeting at the Greenwood Cultural Center. Among the ten who were cited for special recognition were five former Central Technology Center adult students who used WIA assistance for tuition, books and assorted living expenses while preparing to launch themselves on new courses in life and financially rewarding careers.

Program emcee KTUL-TV news anchor Yvonne Harris was joined by Steve Sewell, Tulsa Deputy Mayor, and Bristow businessman Henry Primeaux in recognizing Denise Buckley, Bristow; Lisa Dryden, Cleveland; Brian Hockett, Prattville; Christina Johnson, Tulsa; and Nicole Robinson, Bristow, all former Central Tech students who struggled with challenges that ranged from job layoffs, a lack of sufficient education, to how to provide food and shelter for themselves and their children. Each credits caring counselors at their Workforce Oklahoma career center and their CareerTech instructors for giving them hope and helping them stay focused while they sought new directions and new outcomes in life.

Denise Buckley, a formerly unemployed mother of four children, is a Surgical Technician at Tulsa Regional Medical Center. WIA financial assistance made it possible for Buckley to obtain training in the Surgical Technology program at Central Tech's Drumright campus under instructor Todd Prough as well as her Phlebotomy certification.

"I would like to thank Workforce Oklahoma for being there for me and my family. Everyone at Workforce Oklahoma believed in me and kept after me when I thought I had nothing to offer. I plan to continue my education and become a registered nurse in a couple of years," said Buckley.

Fellow Bristow resident Nicole Robinson was single mother of two and faced unemployment as her employer began the process of shutting down operations and sending hundreds of jobs to Mexico. In her first visit to the Workforce Oklahoma one-stop center at Sapulpa, to sign the paperwork to start her unemployment benefits, Robinson learned of the new Surgical Technology training program at Central Tech and the career opportunities that could become available to her.

WIA offered assistance to Nicole and her children that saw their needs at home met and gave the young mother the financial backing to begin training for a new career. Robinson is a nationally Certified Surgical Technician at Tulsa Regional Medical Center . "No longer do I have a meaningless job. What I do matters for our community. I also have the ability to give my children the things they need and actually save some money too," says Robinson. Nicole also admits to having a brand new lease on life, thanks to instructor Todd Prough and Workforce Oklahoma.

Lisa Dryden, single mother of three, was formerly a door-to-door salesperson with an eighth grade education and no job skills. Dryden discovered first hand the difficulty of finding a decent paying job without sufficient education and the right skills. With the assistance of the Department of Human Services and Workforce Oklahoma, Lisa's life began to take a new turn. DHS assisted Lisa in first getting her high school diploma. Workforce Oklahoma then helped Dryden gain marketable career skills by helping her become one of the first graduates of the new Practical Nursing program at the Central Tech Sapulpa campus. The Cleveland mother is now employed as a nurse at the Cleveland Manor Nursing Home and Sojourn Hospice in Mannford.

Today, Brian Hockett is a Licensed Practical Nurse at SouthCrest Hospital in Tulsa. Brian is a graduate of the Practical Nursing program at Central Tech, Drumright.

Two years ago, at the age of 32, Hockett was earning $9 per hour in a sales position that left him with a dim outlook on his future and a reluctance to go back to school to finish work on a college degree. With encouragement from Workforce Oklahoma career consultant Barbara Waggoner, Hockett made the decision to go back to school, only this time to the CareerTech system and enroll in the Practical Nursing program at Central Tech. WIA assisted Brian with tuition and books and now two years later Hockett is married and practicing his skills as a Licensed Practical Nurse at one of Northeast Oklahoma's premiere hospitals.

Christina Johnson was laid off by her employer in November of 2001 with no prospects of a job paying anywhere near what she needed to meet her financial obligations. "My annual income went from $30,000 to nothing overnight," said Johnson. In a visit to the Workforce Oklahoma one-stop center in Sapulpa, Johnson found she was eligible for unemployment assistance as well as funds for retraining. However, the 36 year-old wife and mother said: "I was reluctant to go back to school because it had been 20 years since I had been in school and I was afraid that I would not be able to keep up with the class."

With tuition assistance from Workforce Oklahoma, Johnson completed both the Computer Software Specialties and Administrative Assistant's programs at Central Tech, Sapulpa, before going on to Oklahoma State University at Okmulgee. Johnson received thirty hours of college credit for her studies at Central Tech when she completed work on her Associate's Degree of Applied Science in Office Information Systems at OSU-Okmulgee. She was also given an opportunity to complete an internship with the Sapulpa one-stop center where today Christina is a Customer Assistant Representative for the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission.