ACE OKC: A Diamond in the Rough

One of the oldest ACE placement sites dating back to its inception, Oklahoma City (OKC) started off with teachers at both Bishop McGuiness High School, Christ the King, Mount St. Mary High School (the “Mount”), and St. Philip Neri in Midwest City. In addition to these four initial schools, ACErs have taught at several other Catholic schools in the OKC area including: Holy Trinity in Okarche, Rosary School, Sacred Heart, St. Charles Borromeo, and St. James.

Over the past thirteen years, OKC ACErs have lived in one of two houses.   The first few years ACErs lived off of Western Ave. near the Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help before moving into the current home at 700 NE 19th just a couple blocks from both the State Capitol and the OU Medical Campus.  However, no matter where the ACErs lived, it seems they somehow all found their way to many of the same OKC hot spots: Tapwerks Pub, Cock O’ the Walk, City Walk Night Club, Maker’s Cigar Bar, The Biting Sow in Bricktown, or the occasional trip to Okarchee to eat at Eischen’s, the oldest bar in Oklahoma renowned for its fried chicken and okra.  

Some other favorite ACEr memories from living in OKC include:
•    Grading, talking, and hanging out at the nearby Red Cup Coffee Shop (Erin Earnst, ACE 3)
•    Nights out at “the Club” down in the early days of Bricktown  (Shawn Dugan)
•    Weekly trips to Java Dave’s Coffee Shop and any one of the hundred Sonic’s on each street corner (Caty Hughes, Anna Arias)
•    Training runs to/from the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Jared’s Loop through Mesta Park (Kelly Holohan, Jared Marx, Laura Rompf, Chris Kowalski, Chris Broughton, Tony Groseta, Molly Mungovan)
•    Hanging out with our entertaining neighbors Ryan, Andrea, and Arnold and enjoying Bobo’s famous fried, smoked chicken wings (Ricky Austin)

Everyone we talked with agreed that OKC definitely boasts its own unique charm and fun venues for letting off steam after a long week of teaching.  Everyone had great affection for the down-to-earth Oklahomans they came to know and love as part of their extended family through their time in ACE.  Though the Catholic community was small, it was extremely active with strong parish/school identities.  Similarly, everyone commented on the strong sense of state/regional pride, particularly with respect to Oklahoma and Oklahoma State sports.  From mentor teachers and principals, to neighbors and fellow coaches, Oklahomans are a very hospitable and welcoming bunch. In the words of Sean Dugan, “the people are so friendly that they would have even invited a stranger over for dinner.” 

Yet, without exception, the most memorable moments from ACE OKC came from living in community with other ACE teachers.  Read below to hear a glimpse of the true story of what happens when six strangers are picked to live in a house, teach in Catholic schools, and have their lives changed forever:
•    Erin Earnst visited Tom Jacobs ranch outside of Tulsa where she rode her first horse and went fishing for the first time.  She believes OKC’s 1st place finishes at both December Retreat Skits during her two years may be the reason there is not longer a talent show at the retreat.
•    Kevin Kiefer recalls having to enlist the fire department’s help upon arrival at his ACE House (NE 19th) the his first year in order to pump sewage out of the basement into the backyard.   He also recalls games of Balderdash with the community
•    Meg Watkins remembers the basement flooding with sewage as well.  She also loved the infamous quote board, laughing all the time, and listening to Jared play the guitar
•    Chris Kowalski claims to have lived with the loudest people on earth including the Ultimate Cheerleading Coach of Kentucky – the Rompf – and John Q.
•    ACE 11 (Caty Hughes, Tony Groseta, Chris Broughton) resurrected ACE’s social event of the year – the defunct Cowboy and Indians Party – in addition to taking plenty of roadtrips to other ACE houses, inventing new Loaded Questions, home brewing their own beer, and being dubbed the Catholic Real World by neighbors
•    Ricky Austin and Tony Groseta took it upon themselves to refurbish the once sewage-filled basement.  In keeping with the ACE spirit, the basement took the title of “The Mini-Backer” in honor of the Linebacker Inn and became the proud new home of the OKC Cowboy and Indians Party, late night karaoke sessions, and crazy dance parties
•    Sitting at the dinner table and talking for hours on end (Anna Arias, Meg Watkins, Chris Broughton)

ACE OKC 2 and 3 (from left to right) Sean Wilson, Mara McConville, Jon McGhee, Laura Wolf, Tom Jacobs and Erin Earnst.

•    Kevin Kiefer recalls having to enlist the fire department’s help upon arrival at his ACE House (NE 19th) the his first year in order to pump sewage out of the basement into the backyard.   He also recalls games of Balderdash with the community
•    Meg Watkins remembers the basement flooding with sewage as well.  She also loved the infamous quote board, laughing all the time, and listening to Jared play the guitar
•    Chris Kowalski claims to have lived with the loudest people on earth including the Ultimate Cheerleading Coach of Kentucky – the Rompf – and John Q.
•    ACE 11 (Caty Hughes, Tony Groseta, Chris Broughton) resurrected ACE’s social event of the year – the defunct Cowboy and Indians Party – in addition to taking plenty of roadtrips to other ACE houses, inventing new Loaded Questions, home
brewing their own beer, and being dubbed the Catholic Real World by neighbors
•    Ricky Austin and Tony Groseta took it upon themselves to refurbish the once sewage-filled basement.  In keeping with the ACE spirit, the basement took the title of “The Mini-Backer” in honor of the Linebacker Inn and became the proud new home of the OKC Cowboy and Indians Party, late night karaoke sessions, and crazy dance parties
•    Sitting at the dinner table and talking for hours on end (Anna Arias, Meg Watkins, Chris Broughton)  

The Mini-Backer: (from left to right) Anna Arias (ACE 12), Caty Hughes (ACE 11), Molly Mungovan (ACE 12),
Ricky Austin (ACE 12), Chris Broughton (ACE 11), Tony Groseta (ACE 11)

A warm thanks goes out to all those ACE OKCers that contributed to this article: Erin Earnst (ACE 3), Shawn Dugan (ACE 4), Kevin Kiefer (ACE 6), Jared Marx (ACE 9), Laura Rompf (ACE 9), Chris Kowalski (ACE 10), Meg Watkins (ACE 10), Tony Groseta (ACE 11), Caty Hughes (ACE 11), Chris Broughton (ACE 11), Ricky Austin (ACE 12), Anna Arias (ACE 12).  If you would like to add to this list of stories and memories, email Chris @ broughton.1@nd.edu.