The Sayre Record & Beckham County Democrat

Jul
03

2019

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Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math (STEAM) Camp took

place June 9-15 at Southwestern Oklahoma State University in Weatherford. The
camp—designed to inspire girls entering the eighth grade to pursue careers in science,
technology, engineering, arts and math—was hosted by the Southwest Alliance for Girls
Enrichment. It was the seventh year for this type of camp to be held at SWOSU. Girls
from around the state of Oklahoma attended the prestigious camp, including (from
left):  Abby Watson, Sweetwater; Cassidy Crabb, Sayre, Milford Companies Technology
Award and SWOSU Robotics Fan Favorite Award; Skyler Scott, Sayre; and Beigelee
Wright, Cheyanne (Epic Charter).

Local girls participate in SAGE STEAM

Camp at SWOSU
Fifty campers
across Oklahoma recently
graduated from the second
year of the SAGE STEAM
Camp held at Southwestern
Oklahoma State University in
Weatherford.
The Southwest
Alliance for Girls’ Enrichment
(SAGE) in Science, Technology,
Engineering, the Arts/
Humanities, and Mathematics
(STEAM) Camp is a weeklong
summer camp hosted on
SWOSU’s campus for girls who
are entering the eighth grade in
the fall.   Campers were chosen
after being nominated by
their teachers (with a limit of
three students per school) and
undergoing a phone interview,
which evaluated STEAM
interest and the need for this
opportunity.   the STEAMentor event.  culminated with the
In addition, 10
STEAMotivators were chosen
to return to camp for four days;
STEAMotivators were chosen
from eligible campers who
had attended the former Tech
Trek STEM Camp in 2015 or
2016. STEAMotivators were
selected based on continued
involvement in STEAM,
extracurricular activities and
positive references.
At this year’s
camp, campers participated in
hands-on STEAM experiments
and activities during on-
campus workshops.  They also
experienced STEAM on site at
Baker Hughes, Devon
Energy and the Oklahoma
City Memorial & Museum.
Moreover, both campers and
STEAMotivators were exposed
to a wide variety of careers
while “speed-meeting” with 38
women professionals during
The SAGE STEAM
Camp vision is to inspire
girls to become independent
thinkers and multimodal
communicators who apply
critical theory and creative
design to collaboratively
solve issues important to
Oklahoma communities via
the skills they learn in the
fields of Science, Technology,
Engineering, Arts/Humanities,
and Mathematics. With
that in mind, campers also
learned meal etiquette and
how to interact professionally. 
In addition, they focused
on written and digital
communication while
journaling their experiences
and writing thank you notes. 
Campers set goals for the week
and reflected on how well they
met those goals as the week
progressed.  
The week
Graduation and Awards
program.

Property of OPS News Tracker and members of the Oklahoma Press Association.
 The Shawnee News-Star

THE ROPER NAME

Jayco Roper competes at the IFYR

Jul
09

2019

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Jayco Roper rides in the bareback bronc at the IFYR on Monday, July 8, 2019.
PHOTO COURTESY OF SKYLAR WRIGHT

By Michele Toberer
IFYR Media Center
When your grandma is
Betty Roper, the winnin-
gest barrel racer in the
International Profession-
al Rodeo Association, the
announcer often mentions
her when introducing you
to the crowds. Jayco Roper
has grown accustomed to
hearing the announcers
rave about his grandma
and her six world titles as
he is getting things just
right in the chutes.
The Roper name has
a longstanding rodeo
history. As with many
fourth-generation Oklaho-
ma cowboys, rodeo sur-
rounds Jayco on all sides.
Jayco and his sisters, Jay-
lie, 23, and Jernie, 8, have
had plenty of examples
set before them, as their
dad J.W. competed as a
team roper for many years.
Besides their grandma Jayco Roper competes in IFYR action Monday. See more photos and results
Betty’s successful barrel on page 1B. See more photos online at www.news-star.com.
racing and horse train- ADAM EWING/SHAWNEE NEWS-STAR
ing career, their grandpa
Jimmy Roper was a well- Jayco started his rodeo competitors, Jayco had a a seventh grader, when he
known and accomplished career riding sheep at 3 passion for rough stock left the NJHSFR in Des
steer wrestler. Jaylie years old and stepped from the very beginning at Moines, Iowa, as the 2015
competed at the IFYR in up the rough stock lad- the Ward Rodeo Company National Champion Bare-
barrel racing when she was der to calves, steers and rodeos he would compete back Steer Rider. Leading
younger and has trained mini broncs when he was DW-D\FR¶V¿UVW\HDULQWKH up to that, he had won the
some great barrel horses; 6 years old. Although Oklahoma Junior High Oklahoma bareback steer
and Jernie lives, eats and he comes from a family Rodeo Association led
breathes barrel racing. of mainly timed-event him to a national title as IFYR, Page 5A

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The Shawnee News-Star

IFYR bareback and bull riding.

Continued from Page 1A
champion title and cham-
pion rookie cowboy title.
Jayco placed fourth in
2016 at the NJHSFR. He
stepped up to bareback
horses when he was about
14, and soon he was riding
with all the big boys on
full size broncs. Jayco won
the 2017 Oklahoma High
School Rodeo Association
Champion Bareback Rider
title his freshman year.
Jayco is now 17 years
old and has competed at
the International Finals
Youth Rodeo for the past
two years. He resides in
He was inducted into the
IFYR Hall Of Fame in
2014.
“Justin has been a huge
help to me over the years,”
said Jayco. “He is always
WKHUHWRKHOS¿[P\ULJJLQJ
and give me advice; I real-
ly look up to him. And, I
never ride a horse without
SUD\LQJWR*RG¿UVW´
Jayco keeps up a very
busy schedule, competing
in the American Cow-
boys Rodeo Association,
Cowboys Regional Rodeo
Association and the All
Indian Rodeo Cowboys
Association.
“My dad is my big-time
manager; he takes care of
ing at the gym,” said Jayco.
He does make some time
IRUÀ\¿VKLQJRFFDVLRQDOO\
DQGHQMR\VJRLQJ¿VKLQJIRU
trout with his bulldogger
friend, Shylo Glover.
Jayco’s dad works for the
Oklahoma Department of
Transportation, and his
mom works as a school-
teacher at the Oklahoma
School for the Blind. J.W.’s
mom, Betty, lives next
door to the family and at
70 years old, is still riding
every day.
“Grandma Betty is still
healthy and gets around
like a 40-year-old,” said
Jayco. “She’s never sitting
down unless they’re eating
lunch.”
Betty has helped both
granddaughters with their
barrel racing and impart-
ed much of her training
knowledge on the girls as
they work with her.
“The IFYR is a great
competition where you can
win a lot of money and our
family has a lot of history
with both the IPRA and
IFYR,” said Jayco. “I’d
like to win as many world
champion titles as she has
so that one day, they may
be talking about me when
my grandson is getting
ready in the chutes.”

Hasbel Pest Control

Oktaha, Oklahoma, and
is homeschooled through
Epic Charter school.
Learning the bronc rid-
ing ropes has been easier
with the help of neighbor
Justin McDaniel. Justin
competed in the IFYR in
2003 and 2004, winning
the all-around champion-
ship in 2004 after topping
the earnings board with
money earned in both
everything,” said Jayco.
“He schedules what rodeos
I’m entering, and I hop
and don’t ask too many • Quality service at a reasonable price.
questions.”
• 1 treatment doesn’t always
Jayco spends much of
get rid of termites.
his time practicing on his
spur board, preparing for
rodeos and goes to the gym 92YEARS SAME NAME, SAME LOCATION
at least three times each
week. For No Hassle Retreats, Just Call Us
“I like to run and do a lot
of core work and powerlift- (405) 694-5086 OR 273-7918

Property of OPS News Tracker and members of the Oklahoma Press Association.
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