BRITTANY EASTER

Many may wonder how you could call a fourth grade student a hero, but that is just the title placed upon Brittany Easter. She is a shining star in her community and aides in bringing her peers quality education and cultural diversity through her work with the Tulsa Opera, Tulsa Ballet, and the Tulsa Youth Opera.

A student at Brassfield Elementary School in Bixby, Oklahoma, Brittany has an exceptionally strong family life, and has been exposed to art and culture. Brittany has participated in plays, musicals, theater productions, and has been on stage with the Tulsa Opera’s TOSCA, Tulsa Ballet’s NUTCRACKER, Theater Tulsa’s MIRACLE ON 34th STREET, and Theater Arts Children’s Theater THE WIZARD OF OZ.

Most of her fellow classmates have never attended a professional play or even know about opera. Her hope is that they, too, will develop an appreciation for culture and the arts. She gives performances in her community, and many of her teachers, classmates, their families, and other community members attend. Easter showcases what she has learned in her participation in various productions, giving added insight to show learning something new can be fun.

Even as an elementary school student, Brittany is motivated by what she sees in life and is conscious of making the world a better place. In first grade, she noticed there were several students in her class unable to read. She thought of a creative idea to interest her peers in reading so they would have more of a desire to learn. She wrote stories and drew illustrations, and her teachers allowed her to read and show them to her class. The children enjoyed the stories and soon asked the teacher to add Brittany’s stories to their reading nook. This small project may have been a turning point in the lives of some first graders who may have never learned to read and subsequently fallen through the cracks of the educational system.

In addition to that, Brittany helps in other ways at school. She knows that some of the children come from low-income families, and she always speaks a kind word or shares a story to make her classmates’ time in school more focused and enjoyable. She also befriended a young man who had learning and physical disabilities. He was brought into her class for several hours daily, and none of the other students seemed interested in him because he was retarded. She became his special friend and helped him to feel wanted and appreciated. He is no longer in her class, but when she does see him, she always makes a point to say hello and ask how he is doing.

Science fairs, invention conventions, and other school-sponsored events have also been a platform where Brittany shares the joys of learning and sharing her talents in crafts, music, writing and art projects. She loves to write stories filled with interest, fun and excitement. She is never asked to do the things she does; she just recognizes a need and looks to formulate a solution. She recently won first place in her school’s Reflections Program Visual Arts.

She is also involved in her school’s SWING CHOIR music program. The students have sung for Channel 8 television on Christmas Day, a local nursing home, the Bixby Chamber of Commerce, the Bixby Horizon’s Club and the YMCA Christmastown.

Brittany was on the 4th grade Whitey Ford Basketball Team the “BOBCATS” and she received a certificate for outstanding performance and achieved first place trophies in the regular season and post season tournaments.

She has volunteered for the Gatesway Foundation in Tulsa at their Gatesway Balloon Festival, a fundraiser which helps kids with disabilities. She is also an active member of Tulsa Zoo Friends.

Though a young girl, Brittany Easter has been honored on many occasions for her giving spirit and service to her community. She was honored as Student-of-Month, “Shining Star” in her classroom, and she was chosen as a “Mark of Excellence” by her principal as well as being awarded a Good Citizenship Award.