TULSA, Okla. — The North Tulsa Economic Development Initiative and other agencies collaborated on Nov. 16 to identify needs in the area and develop a plan to address them.
2 News Oklahoma's Clifton Haskin spoke to Heather Nash, who lives in North Tulsa. She said it's a push in the right direction.
The North Tulsa Economic Development Initiative staff said they plan to start in the classroom. Tulsa Public School's superintendent, Dr. Ebony Johnson, said there's been a significant increase in students of color taking advanced classes in high school, but more needs to be done. Nash said it starts with the teachers.
"If we've got good educators in schools, we have an opportunity to create good citizens. Who even want to become teachers, doctors, or lawyers," said Nash.
Johnson said they have 130 teacher vacancies across the district and announced they'll discuss challenges to reduce those numbers with teachers.
Family and Children's Services CEO Adam Andreassen said 40% of students nationwide are experiencing severe feelings of hopelessness or stress. Nash said these numbers have her wondering what they're doing about it.
"We got to figure out how to make it happen, and I think that's the next step. How do we go about making the community successful in North Tulsa?" said Nash.
2 News asked Lana Turner-Addison, the president of the North Tulsa Economic Development Initiative, that question. " We should do everything that we can to create, track, retain, and expand businesses that are already in North Tulsa. So it means bringing these things to our community," said Turner-Addison.
Nash said no matter how long it takes, it will pay off.
"It's work that's going to benefit the community in the long run. So just taking that time, knowing that it's going to take time and actually following through what we say we're going to do," said Nash.
To learn more about the North Tulsa Economic Development Initiative, click here.
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