Betty Oakes

On a spooky Halloween Day, in Deadwood, South Dakota I arrive as a wonderful treat to Clarence and Louise Wyant. I am one of seven children, having an older brother, Don, and two sisters, Kem and Theresa, and three brothers, Greg, Kelly and Jerry all younger. My father was a career Air Force officer and my mother a homemaker. Until I attended college at Dakota State University, I lived in a different state or country about every two and a half years. It was at my Dad’s last station, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, that I graduated from Crooked Oak High School and met my husband, Larry. We have two daughters, Hillory and Ashley, both who graduated from Grove High School. Together they have blessed us with five grandchildren.

I have twenty-eight years of experience. The first in Prior Lake, Minnesota, two years for the Crooked Oak Public Schools, and the rest are with the Grove Schools. I’ve taught first and second grades and currently am the Reading Specialist at the Lower Elementary School helping everyone know that “Reading is for Life.”