'Somebody the kids could talk to.' Bartlesville educator strives to be a motivator
Whether it’s setting up a safety blitz or reviving the glitz of ancient Rome, Bartlesville High School educator Travis Burkhalter has one purpose.
“To be able to be a motivating factor for the kids,” he said. “Being a teacher means being somebody the kids can look up to. As a teacher, I wanted to be somebody the kids could talk to, no matter what it is.”
Burkhalter tries to keep the classroom atmosphere comfortable, engaging and mutually beneficial.
“We joke in class, but they still learn a lot,” he said, adding a two-way communication enforces the learning pursuit.
“I try my best to relate to them,” he said. “Sometimes we forget what it was like to be a kid.”
Burkhalter arrived this year at Bartlesville as a member of new head football coach Harry Wright’s staff to fill the slot of defensive coordinator.
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Through the first four games, the Bruin defense has scored positive reviews overall, although the secondary has been impacted by injury and the to-be-expected growing pains of a new mix and maturing first-year starters.
During the school day, Burkhalter teaches world history and financial literature at the Bruin Academy. The academy works to help students, mainly juniors and seniors, who might be falling behind in credits needed to graduate.
The class sizes are smaller and schedules more suited to enhance interest in education.
Burkhalter perceives a great connection between coaching and academic instruction.
“Coaching is part of the job,” he said. “I got to learn from a great coach from my old school that most of what we do in athletics is teaching. … That’s where a lot of priorities are, that we get as good of satisfaction of teaching as we get in coaching.”
“The thing I’ve been most impressed with him is his ability to build relationships with the kids, how quickly he was able to get the kids' trust in him … and to believe in what he was saying,” Wright said. “He was able to jump in and start working with the kids.”
Burkhalter’s most recent experience centers on the Oklahoma City area, especially John Marshall High School.
“It is a great district,” Burkhalter said, praising the family atmosphere he felt at John Marshall.
He felt he also had a good influence as an African-American teacher and coach for the students.
Burkhart’s overall experience in working with young people, “just gives me hope for the future.”
“He’s kind of our motivational guy,” Wright said. “He always has motivational words to get us going as a team. The kids listen to him, not only in football but outside of football for life in general.”
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Burkhalter is a product of Eufaula High School and played college football for four years at the University of Wyoming.
“Laramie, Wyoming is my second home,” he said, adding, with a trace of tongue-in-cheek, the best time to visit Wyoming is in July only.
Destiny’s path has led him to Bartlesville, both to try to help revitalize the Bruin football-winning tradition and also to try to positively impact the students under his watch.
“The biggest thing I really want to leave is that I always pushed them to be the best version of themselves and that I loved them,” he said. “I want them to think that he coached me hard and he loved me hard.”
He credits his own coaches for influencing him to make the best choices and he hopes to have a similar impact on the young people he’ll teach, whether on the football field or in the classroom.
This article originally appeared on Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise: Bartlesville's Travis Burkhalter believes learning begins with love
