Alva is a great place to live. The thing that makes Alva so special to so many is the people who inhabit this small town. The school system's motto, "a symbol of excellence," doesn't stop at the students or teachers, but is seen in many individuals throughout the community. A local teacher, Tanya Phillips, has shown such excellence this year, by being chosen for the Oklahoma English & Language Arts (ELA) task force.

The ELA task force is made up of a group of educators who will analyze the curriculum for the coming years and fine tune the state educational standards in English and language arts. Although the task force is specific to English and language arts, Phillips says "as we work to integrate our curriculum, it can be shared across the district."

The goal of the task force, according to its agenda, is "to build a shared understanding of Oklahoma academic standards for ELA, and to provide educators with the resources and knowledge to effectively implement standards-aligned instruction to build confident, proficient and independent readers and writers."

Phillips, who has been teaching for 17 years, applied for the task force, along with other teachers throughout the state, and was honored by being chosen. Phillips is serving on the task force with 24 other people from Oklahoma. The task force is working together online using Google Hangouts and video conferencing, as well as having meetings in person in Oklahoma City. She started working with the task force in May, and will continue working with the group until September.

"Every teacher here (Alva Middle School) and throughout the district is amazing. This is why I feel like it's an honor to be chosen and I'm happy to represent northwest Oklahoma," Phillips said. "I feel proud to be recognized."

Phillips noted that she hopes what she learns will be shared and implemented in the Alva School System.

"I feel like the knowledge that I've gained from working with our curriculum here I will take there, and in return bring back what I've learned to share with Alva."

Phillips hopes that Alva can "set the tone" for the surrounding school districts by using the information she will gain from the task force.

"How we implement these standards is what's going to be the key to our students' success," Phillips said.