WAURIKA — Although he doesn’t claim to have played the role of “Opie,” Mike Nunley looks back and treasures the notion that he grew up on the real-life set of The Andy Griffith Show.
As he prepared to be guest speaker at the 2008 Waurika Commencement on Friday, Nunley admitted the process of creating an address has caused him to get caught up in nostalgia.
“This has been a real opportunity for me to reflect on what a wonderful experience I had growing up in Waurika,” he said. “I tell people all the time that I grew up in ‘Mayberry,’ and nobody could have had a better place to grow up.
“I’m very proud of Waurika. It represents all the characteristics I take seriously — work ethic, integrity, respect for yourself and other people. All that originated in Waurika, and it’s a very special place.”
So special, in fact, that the 1983 Waurika High graduate made sure his traveling companion through life also carried Waurika in her heritage. “I married Becky Goss, who was an ’84 grad of WHS,” Nunley said. “We were high school sweethearts.”
On Friday night, Nunley will receive the “Spirit of the Eagle” award. It goes to the commencement guest speaker, who’s selected because of the accomplishments they’ve achieved since graduating from Waurika High.
“To say I’m flattered to be asked to be the guess speaker is an understatement,” Nunley said, and then wryly cackled, “but obviously, I was the last guy they had on the list!”
Au contraire. According to Waurika administrators, the oldest of Pat and Ervin Nunley’s three sons was chosen because Mike Nunley’s Eagle spirit has been reflected by the impact he’s made in secondary education and interscholastic athletics.
After graduating from WHS in 1983, Nunley first attended Western Oklahoma Junior College in Weatherford, then he graduated from Kansas Newman College in Wichita, with the intention of coaching college basketball.
Nunley spent two years as an assistant coach at the University of Central Oklahoma, earning a master’s degree along the way, but he left the college ranks for secondary education. Nunley coached and taught at Crescent and Ripley high schools, before becoming boys basketball coach and athletic director at Putnam City West, where he stayed from 1998 to 2004.
In 2004, Nunley became athletic director for the Edmond Independent School District, administering three high schools and five middle schools. He’s drawn kudos for using organizational skills and innovation to make the Edmond district one of the state’s athletic showcases.
“I’ve been very blessed,” he noted, “but any success I’ve had is because of the community I grew up in. I always want to be a good ambassador for Waurika.”
Nunley’s address will be the third of the evening Friday at Cy Sloan Stadium. The graduates and gallery will also hear from Lucas Coody, valedictorian of the Class of 2008, and from Salutatorian Ashley Davis.
As class president, Coody will begin the ceremony with a welcoming speech and lead those assembled in the flag salute. Class Secretary Matt Henderson will follow with the invocation.
Dale Spradlin, principal of the high school and middle school, will present scholar awards. And following the main addresses and the traditional rose presentation by the graduates, Spradlin will also present the class to Superintendent Roxie Terry, who will distribute diplomas to the 20 graduates.
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