HRC President, Carolyn Brinkley and Senior Tea Guest Speaker, Lisa Jones.

-- Photo Credit: Jeanie Barnes

HOBY winner, Tylie Griffith (left) with Rusti Howard

On Tuesday, May 8, 2018, the Home Representative Club of Collinsville was excited to carry on the over 50 year tradition of hosting the annual Mother Daughter Senior Tea for the graduating female seniors of Collinsville High School. This tradition is a wonderful event that the club proudly hosts. The girls and their mothers (or adult female guest) were greeted at the door and welcomed to one of the last events of their senior year. Each senior girl introduced themselves and their guest and then explained what their plans were after graduating high school. Lisa Fitts Jones, a 1977 Collinsville High School graduate was the guest speaker for this beautiful event. Mrs. Jones attended her Senior Tea in Collinsville in 1977. She is now a journalist, accomplished local businesswoman and news anchor for KRMG Channel 2 News. She spoke to the girls on how wonderful it is to be from a small and supportive town and how each girl can achieve any dream or goal that they set. Mrs. Jones was an incredible encouragement and inspiration to us all.

A wonderful buffet of tea cookies, tea sandwiches, cold tea and hot coffee was served. The girls then mingled and took advantage of the photo backdrops provided for them. A group photo of the Senior Girls is shown below along with a photo of the girls that started kindergarten together.

The HRC would like to wish the class of 2018 much success and thank the senior girls, their guests, the high school staff, Lisa Jones, Kelvin Limbocker and Faith Fellowship for helping make the tea so successful and a great memory for our graduating senior girls.

It is with great excitement to announce that the 2018 Hugh O’Brian Youth (HOBY) Leadership Award winner is Miss Tylie Griffith. Tylie is the 16 year old daughter of Ty and Terri Ann Griffith. Tylie was selected for this prestigious award by Sophomore guidance counselor, Andrea Villines Sokol. Tylie was chosen because of her positive accomplishments and leadership skills. Founded in 1958, HOBY’s mission is to inspire and develop our global community of youth and volunteers to a life dedicated to leadership, service and innovation. HOBY programs are conducted annually throughout the United States, serving local and international high school students.

HOBY programs provide youth selected by their schools to participate in unique leadership training, service-learning and motivation-building experiences. Today, over 375,000 proud alumni make HOBY stronger than ever. HOBY alumni are leaders in their schools and communities, throughout the United States and the world, making a difference for others through service.

The Home Representative Club, who has sponsored this program for over 25 years, was excited to award Tylie with a plaque at the Underclassman Awards Assembly on Thursday, May 10, 2018. Tylie will also receive a goody basket for her to take with her to the HRC sponsored Leadership Seminar that will be held the end of May at the University of Central Oklahoma. Tylie will represent Collinsville High School, her family, her community and the Home Representative Club at this seminar. Each student at the Leadership Seminar will have the opportunity to participate in hands-on leadership activities, meet leaders of the state of Oklahoma and explore his or her own personal leadership skills while learning how to lead others and make a positive impact in their community. Miss Griffith will also be able to participate in a hands on community service project during her stay and will be encouraged to develop critical thinking skills all while being given the opportunity to visit with and ask questions of today's leaders in hopes of helping her emerge as one of tomorrow's leaders.

If you are an incoming sophomore for the Fall 2018 school year and you are interested in applying for this prestigious award please contact the Sophomore Guidance Counselor by September 1, 2018.

The Home Representative Club of Collinsville would like to thank the Collinsville High School staff for supporting this award especially, Andrea Villines Sokol, the sophomore guidance counselor.

What Leaders are saying about HOBY:

Ted Turner, Chairman, Turner Broadcasting Systems:

“You know, we business people like to say we’re driven by the bottom line. The real bottom line is the future, and we owe it to our youth to prepare them for that. Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership (HOBY) does just that. By promoting leadership, HOBY is building a corps of young people who will be prepared to meet the challenges facing future generations.”

Muhammad Ali, Olympic Gold Medalist and Heavyweight Boxing Champion:

"In this world, success comes to those with confidence and faith in themselves. Hugh O’Brian’s youth organization is the GREATEST in developing that confidence in outstanding 10th graders selected annually to represent over 13,500 public and private high schools at one of HOBY’s leadership seminars. What an outstanding role model for our future!”

Colin L. Powell, Former United States Secretary of State:

"The mission of America’s Promise is to equip the next generation of Americans with the character and competence they need to be successful adults. Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership (HOBY) is one of our staunch allies in this crusade... HOBY is encouraging each of the thousands of high school sophomores who attend these leadership seminars to volunteer at least a hundred hours a year to a community service project. The HOBY commitment to America’s Promise will produce at least 1,400,000 volunteer service hours a year.”