By Mindy Ragan Wood
News editor
Rob Anderson is a relatively new face in Okarche, but his passion for education in agricultural America runs long and deep.
Okarche Board of Education President Stephanie Jeffrey announced last week she would seek another term to add to her 12 years on the board. She could face more than one opponent if additional citizens file for Seat No. 5 between December 2 and 5.
Anderson and his wife Ginger moved to Okarche in 2016 for the school district and to be near a Catholic community to practice their faith and raise their children. He works in Greenfield where he operates a grain elevator for Wheeler Brothers.
“We lived in Greenfield,” Anderson said. “My wife was raised in Calumet,” he said. “We’d always thought about going to Calumet schools but there was some turmoil there, so we decided not to go in that direction. We decided to explore which school system is the best in the area and we thought Okarche was the best.”
They drove from Greenfield for two years to Okarche so their son Cooper could attend Okarche schools, but they knew as classrooms filled up transfers would likely be denied for their younger children.
“We made a decision that we were going to move here,” he said. “We always thought one of us would serve on the school board.”
The civic minded Anderson is not new to serving on boards. He was a town board trustee in Greenfield for five years and serves on the Kingfisher County chapter of the Natural Resources Conservation Service Oklahoma Board. He joined the Okarche Education Foundation.
During his time in Greenfield as a town trustee he helped condemn and tear down six abandoned houses and run off sex offenders. The town did not have a church, school district or park which, by state statute, prevents registered sex offenders from living within certain distances to those establishments. That did not stop Anderson from taking action.
“I decided to build a park and I put it right in the middle of town so no sex offenders can move into town,” Anderson said. “Before we moved there, there were seven sex offenders living in the town.
There were around 40 houses and there was nothing to keep them out of there.”
Anderson hopes to bring that creativity to his role as board of education member if he is elected. So far, specific problem solving ideas for the district are not clear, but he is concerned that Okarche will eventually experience a boom in population that will swell the district.
“All the towns around here seem to be growing,” he said. “This town doesn’t seem to be growing much, but if it ever does we have to be ready for it and have a plan in place for it. They passed the bonds, built some schools and a gym and that’s great. Those are things that needed to happen for a while.”
Anderson has been doing some homework on district growth as he has looked to Kingfisher, Watonga and Weatherford districts to name a few.
“At one time Kingfisher had an opportunity to buy 40 acres of land,” Anderson said he was told. “Well they only bought 20 acres of it to build their school because they didn’t think they’d need it,” Anderson said. “Well, now they need it. If you don’t plan it out here, we’ll be in the same situation.”
The hopeful candidate did not have any ill-will toward Jeffrey but is spending his time speaking to voters.
“Every board I’ve been on I don’t go in with ‘hey, I’m going to change this,’ but once you get involved, you figure out what needs to happen.
Really it has to do with just the community, which way to go with it. That’s the way I feel like it needs to be. Not just one (my) voice.”
What he does hear from voters is they want change and a new perspective.
“In the last elections we’ve seen a lot of change,” Anderson said. “I feel like that’s what the town wants. I’m not necessarily saying that needs to happen or the person I’m running against isn’t doing a good job.”
Anderson holds a Bachelor’s degree in agriculture and a minor in financing from Fort Hays State University in Kansas. He is completing an MBA with a focus in project management from Southwestern Columbian University in Alabama.
Anderson worked as an assistant manager for Ames Oklahoma Coop to be near his wife’s family in Calumet. He has been a grain elevator operator for Wheeler Brothers since September 2010.
Anderson and his wife have three children: Cooper, age 10, Ella, age seven and Josie age three. They have been married for 10 years and are members of Holy Trinity Catholic Church.
