October 6, 2021 Issue, Page 4 of 26

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PG4 Hometown Heroes | October 2021 Mathematics is a rewarding puzzle, says Sayre High School Math teacher By Shonda Little aresult, her family is well-known in the area. not have even heard of it. So I asked my hus- After graduating from Sayre High School in band if he would drive me over to check it out. For 25 years, Sheila Hunter has been a main- 1984, fate quickly led her to Daniel, her even- It turned out to be a good fit. I spent six years stay at Sayre High School. That seems to be tual husband. After all, her sister was already there in total. It was only a 42-mile drive over fitting. After all, her love for her field of study married to his brother. there, so it was doable.” — mathematics — was planted and bloomed “When I would take my sister by to see him, While many would see driving 42 miles one by another famous Sayre educator when she Daniel’s mother would joke to me, “You know, way as a hardship, Hunter was dedicated to her herself was a student. Ihave more sons.’ So then we ended up going students and didn’t see the daily haul as cum- “T was in the ninth grade here at Sayre, and out on a double date, and it just took,” Hunter bersome. Mr. Rudy Mayfield was teaching me Algebra I. laughingly recounted. When the opening for a math teacher became For some reason, | just got it. 1 guess my mind Like many young couples living in west- available in Sayre, Hunter was eager to jump is one that likes rules and applying those rules ern Oklahoma in the mid-1980s, the infamous upon it. to solve a problem. Before I knew it, I had a “bust” made her re-evaluate what she would do At the time, she and her husband’s two chil- circle of other kids around me, asking for my professionally. dren — Brittney and Zac — were still young. help. I have a younger sister who is fifteen “T was able to get my associate here at Sayre,” Though Hunter eagerly drove those 42 miles, months younger than me, and I always helped she explained. “Then drove to Weatherford to that could equal up to more than an hour and a her with her math. So being a math teacher finish. I graduated in December of 1989. That half at home. came naturally to me,” Hunter said. was a strange time for a teacher to find a job In her three decades in the classroom, Hunter For Hunter, Sayre has always been home. By since it was midway through the school year. has witnessed many changes. the time she was in the third grade, her fam- Well, at the end of January, I get a call from “T started out writing on a chalkboard then on ily had established their home on her mother’s Allison, Texas. They had called the registrar’s a projector that went to an overhead. We went family property. In fact, she and her husband office at Sayre, saying they were looking for a from there to a Smartboard. Now I am making Sheila Hunter have made that place their own homestead. As math teacher. I had never been to Allison. I may See Hunter page 5. TEACHERS We want to thank all our area educators for their dedication to teaching and helping guide our children! RE We want to thank all our educators for their dedication to teaching! TERRY'S FURNITURE (580)225-4006 OR (800)925-4006 Great Plains Bank lernyturiuretoroomcom MEMBER FDIC & SHOWROOM 2001 SOUTH MAIN Cash or Check Monday 90 Day Lay-A-way gaty rday 128 E. Main St, Sayre, OK ¢ 888-449-2265 ELK CITY, OKLAHOMA Special Financing 9g.