The Rotary Spark Podcast

#0008 - Tegan Malone

• Brian Triger • Season 1 • Episode 1008

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Discover the inspiring journey of Tegan Malone, a passionate advocate for community service from the Midwest City Rotary Club. We sit down with Tegan to discuss her path into Rotary, initiated by a friend's recommendation, and her dedication to projects that uplift our local community. After stepping back due to political obligations, she's ready to dive back into impactful events, including an exciting popcorn event at a local elementary school. With a diverse background in education, nonprofit work, and life safety design, Tegan's profound commitment to fostering community development and public safety shines through as she shares her experiences and aspirations for the future.

We also tackle some pressing issues in Oklahoma's public education system, highlighting the challenges of underfunding and the devaluation of the teaching profession. Offering a critical perspective, we explore how Rotary and similar organizations can play a vital role in supporting schools and students through mentorship and volunteerism. The conversation expands globally as we explore the benefits of engaging with Rotary clubs beyond our borders, underlining the power of collective efforts to uplift communities worldwide. Join us for an episode filled with insights, inspiration, and a shared vision for a brighter future.

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Brian Triger:

Welcome to the Rotary Spark Podcast. I'm your host, Brian Treiger, and with me today is Tegan Malone. How are you doing today, Tegan?

Tegan Malone:

I'm wonderful, Brian. Thanks for having me today.

Brian Triger:

My pleasure. So, Tegan, you're in the Midwest City Rotary Club, is that correct? Yes, sir, absolutely in the Midwest City Rotary Club. Is that correct? Yes, sir, absolutely, and tell us a little bit about your experience coming into Rotary. And tell us a little bit about the Midwest City Rotary Club.

Tegan Malone:

So I joined Rotary.

Tegan Malone:

I think it's about four years ago now, at the request or suggestion of a friend of mine, Andy Fugate, who is a member of the Dell City Rotary Club and just said that this is a great group of people. He knew that I like to get involved in things and like to, you know, spend my time identifying needs in the community and really working towards addressing some of those needs. So it seemed like a natural place for me to end up and join the club, Was very active for the first couple of years but kind of started to get into politics a little bit and obviously those things take up a little bit of our time. So I have not been as engaged as I would like to be, but now that the election is over, looking forward to getting back into it.

Brian Triger:

That's great and I can definitely connect. On a personal and professional level, I feel like in an organization that claims to not be political, experiencing the bottleneck occasionally can be a challenging experience. So, with the slowdown a little bit within our Rotary Club, what district projects are you currently involved with?

Tegan Malone:

Right now not a whole lot. I show up right now for the popcorn at our local elementary school. That was a really great way to kind of re-engage.

Brian Triger:

I'm really grateful for that opportunity.

Tegan Malone:

Looking forward to these next couple meetings, kind of reorienting myself and stepping back in some of these projects. I know volunteers, you know volunteers are what makes the world go round and we definitely need them to help them a lot of aspects.

Brian Triger:

Yeah, that's great. I've participated in the popcorn events myself. It's fun to help Midwest City Elementary School with their popcorn event. One of the other district events that come to mind or not district, but international events is the Rotary International Conference out in Calgary. Oh yeah, that's going to be a lot of fun and I know that we also have some pets training coming up. Tegan, we've met a few times. Tell me a little bit more about yourself, who you were before you joined Rotary, who you are now on the personal side, professionally, even your ties to any nonprofit organizations.

Tegan Malone:

Yeah, absolutely so. I was born and raised in Midwest City. Yeah, absolutely so.

Tegan Malone:

I was born and raised in Midwest City, spent all my time in the area and joined my husband, joined the Air Force and so we did traveling around the country doing that type of stuff. So very quickly realized that pursuing my degree in a science field and going on to med school was not going to be the most efficient use of my time with frequent moves. So I switched my degree path on over to education. I worked as a public school teacher for about 14 years. It was a great experience.

Tegan Malone:

I love, love, love, love the creativity that working with kids and young teenagers affords us. But that path kind of closed up for me and it was just time to move on. So I began working at an organization called Teen in Power that does some push-in programs in Oklahoma City public schools Crooked Oak public schools and Middell public schools and part of what they do is works with the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Consortium in Oklahoma City, which is done in coordination with organizations like the City-County Health Department, variety Care, and there's a big organization called Honestly that does this work and the entire goal of this stuff is to ensure that the teen birth rate decreases dramatically, because Oklahoma has one of the highest incidences of teenage mothers.

Brian Triger:

And so that was a great experience for me.

Tegan Malone:

I left that position and went back to some place that has a lot of history and is very near and dear to my heart and worked as the national events manager at River Sport for a little while my heart and worked as the national events manager at Rubber Sport for a little while, and am currently running a company with my husband called Red Dirt Solutions. We do life safety design and get people through the certificate of occupancy process either with the state fire marshal or with their local authority having jurisdiction.

Tegan Malone:

So very embedded in the public safety square and really looking forward to making sure people have the things that they need to operate a business successfully here in Oklahoma. I did spend about six years as the president of an organization called the Oklahoma Earth Bicycling Association, but we were a non-profit that advocated for and built and maintained mountain bike trails all across the state of Oklahoma. When I first started with my presidency, we were involved in three trails at Draper Lake, bluff Creek and Roman Nose, and when I finished my tenure, we were involved in about 22 trails in various stages of development, and so it was a very incredible opportunity for me to not only see the state but to understand how things are working across the state for people, to see what types of amenities that we lack, to create these hubs that we draw that younger demographic in, because we need that for the sustainability of our communities.

Brian Triger:

It was a really great opportunity.

Tegan Malone:

It also led me to getting involved in Bike Oklahoma, which is a statewide organization for cycling in all its forms, not just the people we like to call mammals those are the middle-aged men in Lycra but also for people who you know know do things recreationally for kids who ride their bicycles to school. For you know that mom who just likes to throw her kids in the back and ride around a little bit till they go to sleep we advocate for safe streets.

Tegan Malone:

We advocate for, um, all sorts of things that are going to increase the opportunities for people to have safe routes to go cycling through our state.

Tegan Malone:

So, um, you know, have a little bit of experience with quite a few different nonprofits, actually brought the nonprofit Bike Club from Tulsa down here to Oklahoma City and it has taken off. I'm very happy to see. But that's one thing that I'm really looking forward to. It's kind of been in the back of my head and, as time is becoming more available to me, we will be setting up a new nonprofit in the Middell area to create Bike Club for Middell, which is going to give a lot of opportunities for people to come out and work with us as a volunteer for the organization, but also to mentor the youth that we have in our community, because sometimes just having one extra adult in a child's life or a young teenager's life is the thing that's going to make the difference between success and not being successful. So just really trying to get those pieces into into position right now so we can start rolling that out pretty soon.

Brian Triger:

Okay, that's fantastic. As someone who has been shaped by a mentor, you know, in my early 20s, you know, my life completely changed after meeting that individual. I think it's fantastic. It may be somewhat anecdotal, but just seeing some of the youth as a resident in Midwest City I know that there's definitely a need for the kids within that city specifically, and they could definitely benefit from an additional organization that mentors them.

Tegan Malone:

Absolutely, and you know, the great thing about an organization like a bike club is that not only do you provide a service for kids and you know just that extra hand for the parents, you also get to utilize the work that our incredible city officials and employees have been. We've got a couple of city employees that are super dedicated to increasing these opportunities for our citizens and they've really taken full advantage of funding opportunities from organizations like ACOG or the Federal Recreational Trails Program to create, you know, the infrastructure in our town.

Tegan Malone:

I tell people all the time they might not realize it, but the city of Midwest. City for the size of town we have has some of the best cycling infrastructure in the state, with our mountain bike trail that is just gaining popularity, left and right, you know, with riders statewide, to just the people who like to go out and walk our paved paths. It's becoming something of an attraction for people.

Brian Triger:

Yeah, no, I I've walked them a few times, Just noticing that, even though it's changing the topic a little bit, just the introduction of the new paddle ball courts right in front of Midwest city elementary, and noticing the drastic change with those paved paths, it's just, it's a lot more inviting. You know, within the state. Coming from different states over the years, I've noticed, prior to the introduction of some of these projects, that Oklahoma at times isn't always friendly to people who want to exercise outdoors.

Brian Triger:

You know, there's just not a lot unless you're in a super rural area it's difficult to, you know, find, uh, in certain pockets of Midwest city to find, you know, landscaping that is completely taken care of, so you can walk on sidewalks and uh, you know, uh, I've noticed, you know, there's some limitation to to riding bicycles on the street, which you know, and that I have hope that that'll change over time, because I see these projects that you've mentioned as progress and.

Brian Triger:

I'm very pleased to see you know those projects being carried out. I do have a question as an educator why is Oklahoma on the bottom of the list when it comes to public education?

Tegan Malone:

That's an excellent question, brian, and I'm so glad you asked that. There are going to be a lot of people who have a lot of ideas and, as the old adage goes, everybody thinks they know how a school system runs because they were once a student in school, having a master's degree in education. Having been embedded into our public school system for the entirety of my career as a teacher, I can tell you firsthand that you know there are a lot of issues that affect our families and our kids, and if we don't take care of those issues, it creates a situation that is ripe for just some inadequacies, especially when it comes to the government.

Tegan Malone:

inadequacies especially when it comes to the government, what we have seen over the last, I would say 20 to 30 years, especially in like a full court press.

Brian Triger:

Is that there?

Tegan Malone:

has been a concerted effort, especially here in Oklahoma, to consistently decrease the funding. And you know I've given so many talks about this and had so many conversations about this, but one of the most pointed questions that I've ever had was someone from the state chamber of commerce asked me point blank what amount of money is it going to take to fix education?

Brian Triger:

There's not an answer to that?

Tegan Malone:

There absolutely isn't. And when we approach public schools and when we approach education from the viewpoint of a business, with widgets that we're producing, we're not ever going to get. With widgets that we're producing, we're not ever going to get the results that we want. These are children. These are people that are learning and growing. They have different biology. Their brains develop at different rates from one another, you know, because we group based on age instead of ability.

Tegan Malone:

And so there are all sorts of things that go into that. But what we're seeing right now is the culmination of years and years and years of activity funding, years and years and years of making sure that the profession of teaching is looked down upon, that it's not treated as a professional thing. And so when we do this, when we just categorize the entire thing as something negative and we start to get people to pull out of it, then the whole system collapses in on itself, and that's what we're seeing right now it's by design, I feel like, and you can talk to a lot of educators and they will tell you the same thing.

Tegan Malone:

It feels like a concerted effort to you know, break public education into pieces and sell it off to the highest bidder. It feels, like a corporate takeover of public education, and when we've identified patterns in, you know, the public spaces with things, similar things, like you know, whenever we were serving the country with the military moving around, frequently it was the growing trend to privatize base housing.

Tegan Malone:

And when we privatized base housing, one of the first things that we noticed with it where there were. People were getting sick because of carbon monoxide there were tons of mold issues, growing quality wasn't great because it was, you know, given out to the cheapest bidder. And then you know we started to make this move into private prisons and what we've seen here in Oklahoma is, you know, if there's a company that has a vested interest in keeping people locked up it doesn't serve our community well.

Tegan Malone:

And I have a feeling that here pretty quick that people that think that there is something wrong with our public schools inherently with the people teaching.

Tegan Malone:

Whatever the case may be, I think they might find out pretty quick. You know, when we start moving into these other systems that are for profit, we're not going to get the quality product that we had when we were taking care of our public schools. Our public schools are the backbones of our communities, flat out. You can't go into your local Walmart or your local grocery store or anything like that without seeing somebody with your local high school t-shirt on, or you know a kid who's got their you know uniform on because they just left a game. Everybody surrounds themselves. It's the hub of activity in our communities and we've got to do a much better job of ensuring that the resources are there to educate our kids. It's one of the best ways we've ever pulled our money together to get something for ourselves for the future.

Brian Triger:

That's great input. So what can 1,700 people in? Rotary do to push Oklahoma's?

Tegan Malone:

education system forward. Get involved with your school, Get involved with your neighborhood school. That is the best way. That's the way we were raised.

Tegan Malone:

That's the way most of us had that community that surrounded us to lift us up Schools you know, have had to kind of pull back on the volunteerism just as issues arise in our communities with you know the safety and things like that. But if we've got, you know, dedicated people who are vetted through a process and they can make a commitment to consistent volunteerism in our public schools, then we've absolutely got something, a resource that is so powerful to impact change. You know a lot of our kids, especially in our public schools and especially in our low-income communities they've got parents who love them and support them dearly.

Tegan Malone:

They've got guardians who love and support them dearly and I think, if we just want to use the most neutral term we have, they've got trusted adults that love and support them dearly.

Tegan Malone:

They've got guardians who love and support them dearly and I think, if we just want to use the most neutral term we have, they've got trusted adults that love and support them dearly, but they're having to work two and three jobs to make ends meet. This is just the point and time that we're at. Poverty is a very real issue in a lot of our communities, and so being one more voice to back that parent up, being one more voice to provide some guidance for a young person who might not otherwise have it because of whatever situation they're in, getting involved in that public school as a mentor, as a volunteer, anything like that is one of the best ways that you can affect change, because it tells kids who might not see it every single day that there are adults out there that do care about them and that they value them and that they want to see them succeed no matter what success looks like for them.

Tegan Malone:

And so just getting involved, just making it a point to find that kiddo who looks like they're not interacting, to find those people who just need that little bit of extra help, that is the best way that we can impact the lives of our kids and that's great. And I think that circles back to the eye of a mentor.

Brian Triger:

You know when you find, when you're looking in a positive way, you're looking for potential problems but you're willing to be part of the solution and you're going to just nurture a relationship without with limited judgment.

Tegan Malone:

I think it's, uh, that's really important um you know, um, to kind of piggybacking on what you're saying right there, what something that we're noticing after this week's election.

Tegan Malone:

You know there was a lot. There were a lot of people that got very mobilized. I'm on on both sides of the aisle and you know a lot of people really felt like wearing one specific item of clothing or doing this one teeny, tiny little thing to get that hint to other people that they were doing this thing or being a part of this thing. It was a great first step, but a lot of people don't step out of that bubble anymore and take the action and while getting involved and, you know, making those little hints, making those little wardrobe changes and things are all fine and dandy and wonderful ways to show some solidarity the thing that we have to encourage people to continually do is take action. It does not have to be grandiose. It can be a little itty bitty thing. It can be sitting in the car at the bus stop just making sure the kids don't get wet when it's raining, it can be, you know.

Tegan Malone:

Starting your own bike club, it can be. I mean just a whole range of things in there. But action is where it's at. We can't rest on our laurels. We can't sit back and just say, oh, somebody else is going to take care of that. It's a privilege that we've had for far too long and we're suffering as a community for it because people are not getting engaged in these things anymore.

Brian Triger:

That's great and it kind of connects to my next question, so I'll switch over to that. If you had any words of advice to new or prospective Rotarians, what would those words be? There's a place for you. Words of advice to new or prospective.

Tegan Malone:

Rotarians what would those words be? There's a place for you. You know, a lot of times we join a club and I've seen this from a couple of people that I know across the Oklahoma City Metro. They've joined a club. They felt very welcome at first and they still feel very welcome at that space. But as they start to get involved, as they start to make connections and build those relationships with others around the community, they might find a different space that they feel a little bit more attached to, and that's absolutely okay too.

Tegan Malone:

It doesn't mean that you're not having that well, what's the word I'm looking for? You're not being faithful to your own club. It's just Rotary is an organization that's international, and if we don't step outside the bounds of what we're doing in our own communities sometimes to see what other clubs are doing within our state, within our country or even internationally, then we don't understand what is possible through an organization like this, where people are committed to making sure that their community rises, and that's all any of us want is to see that our community rises.

Brian Triger:

Thank you for joining us. Tegan, I'd like to have you back at some point to discuss some of the projects that you've mentioned and maybe some additional projects in the future. Again, thank you for your time, thank you to Almonte Library and to our sponsor, itspark, and thank you to our listeners for participating. Have a great evening, everyone.

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