NOC to honor distinguished alums April 6
Northern Oklahoma College alumni Dr. Michelle (Jeffries) Keylon and Scott Morris will be inducted into the NOC Distinguished Alumni Hall of Fame April 6 at NOC Tonkawa.
Dr. Keylon, Class of 1992, and Morris, Class of 1991, will be honored in ceremonies taking place during the NOC Alumni and Friends Reunion Dinner in the Renfro Center at NOC Tonkawa at 5 p.m. on Saturday, April 6.
The public is invited to the event and all NOC Alumni and Friends of the college are encouraged to attend, according to Kayla Wooderson, director of alumni and community relations. The deadline for reservations is March 15. Reservations are required; the $25 payment for the dinner event may be paid in advance.
NOC will recognize the Class of 1974 as well as the Nursing Classes of 1974, 1999, and 2014. In addition, the NOC Roustabouts Program will be recognized to celebrate 60 years of the program.
For reservations or for more information, contact Wooderson at 580-628-6473 or e-mail kayla.wooderson@noc.edu. To make reservations online, visit www.noc.edu/alumni and then click on “Alumni and Friends Reunion Form.”
Dr. Michelle (Jeffries) Keylon
Dr. Michelle Keylon was born and raised in Tonkawa, Oklahoma. After graduating from Tonkawa High School in 1990, Michelle immediately went on to Northern Oklahoma College. As a first-generation college student, she found the support and guidance through NOC to build a strong academic foundation that would carry her through her post-graduate degree. Michelle graduated from NOC in 1992 with an Associate of Science, followed by earning a Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education – Business Professions from Oklahoma State University in 1994.
After working several years as a classroom teacher, she earned a Master of Science in Occupational & Adult Education from Oklahoma State University in 2000. Michelle later achieved a Doctorate of Education in Instructional Leadership from North Central University in 2014.
For almost three decades, Michelle has focused her work on career and technical education, workforce development and economic development. She started as a classroom teacher in 1996 at Okmulgee High School. The following year, Michelle began teaching at Green Country Technology Center, also in Okmulgee.
Dr. Keylon left the classroom to join the Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education in 2000. She was the State Program Administrator for vocational business, marketing, and information technology programs. She was responsible for strategic leadership, program development and provided support to numerous educational programs across the state, ensuring they met the highest standards of quality and accreditation.
In 2005, she was given the opportunity to join Francis Tuttle Technology Center as the Director for Information Technology Programs. Over her 19-year tenure at Francis Tuttle she has taken on the roles of Adult Career Development Director, Executive Director of Instruction, Assistant Superintendent of Instruction, and Deputy Superintendent. In 2019, she became the fourth superintendent of Francis Tuttle. Her role has been to provide leadership for program development, curriculum design, instructional delivery, and staff development. Her leadership extended to emergency operations planning, strategic planning, budgeting, staffing and culture development. As the superintendent, she maintains a relentless pursuit of excellence, a dedication to students and educators, and a commitment to educating the future workforce.
Keylon’s family includes her partner, Jason Orr, her son Kolton, who is currently a junior at Oklahoma State University majoring in Geology and her daughter Kinley who is a junior at Deer Creek High School. Family members in Tonkawa include her grandmother Kathleen Jeffries-Stone, her brother Darrin Johns and his wife Shelly along with aunts, uncles and cousins, including Karri Morrill. Michelle’s parents Chet and Kay Jeffries live in Guthrie and her sister Heather Hancock, husband Ron and children live in Bixby.
Scott Morris
Scott Morris, a Tonkawa High School graduate, earned his Associate of Science degree from Northern Oklahoma College in 1991.
After a stellar career at Tonkawa High School, he followed the footsteps of his father, Gilbert Morris, and played basketball for the Northern Oklahoma College Mavericks.
After finishing his two-year career at NOC, Morris continued his playing career at the University of Science and Arts in Chickasha where he played both basketball and golf.
Morris then returned to NOC as the men’s assistant coach under Mick Weiberg from 1993-95.
While earning his Master of Education degree at UCO he served as an assistant coach for Dan Hays at Oklahoma Christian University. He then returned to NOC Tonkawa in 2000 for one season as the women’s assistant coach under Greg Krause before being named the first head coach of the NOC Enid women’s basketball program in 2001.
Morris and wife Summer then moved to Enid where he started the NOC Enid program from scratch and coached the Lady Jets from 2001-2020. He also taught Math at NOC Enid.
Over 19 years at NOC Enid, Morris’ teams would accumulate 456 wins (averaging 24.0 wins per season), 12 conference championships, 12 NJCAA All-Americans, four Region-2 Championships and five National Tournament berths.
The Lady Jets reached Final Four appearance in 2011. The Lady Jets also achieved academic excellence by winning four NJCAA national academic titles and two runner-up finishes with over fifty individual academic All-Americans.
Morris and wife Summer currently live in Stillwater where he coaches the Stillwater High School Boys Basketball Team. They have three children Bryce, 22, Brennen, 19, and Avery, 14.
The event registration will be held from 4:30 p.m. – 5 p.m. in the Renfro Center lobby with dinner at 5 p.m. in the banquet room The NOC Roustabout Benefit Show will follow the dinner at 7:30 p.m. at the KPAC at a cost of $10 per ticket.
Northern Oklahoma College, the state’s first public two-year community college, is a multi-campus, land-grant institution that provides high quality, accessible, and affordable educational opportunities and services.
NOC serves nearly 4,000 students through the home campus in Tonkawa, branch in Enid, and NOC/OSU Gateway Program in Stillwater. Of these students about 80% receive financial aid and/or scholarships. 75% of NOC students complete their degree with zero debt.
The college is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and offers associate degrees in three general areas: Arts, Science and Applied Science; the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs; and the Accreditation Commission for Education and Nursing.
For more information about Northern Oklahoma College please call (580) 628-6208 or visit the NOC website at www.noc.edu.
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