Sparking Inspiration in Graduating High Schoolers

For her high school graduation, Janie Dillard’s English teacher gifted her a bull to start a herd of cattle. Janie had little idea what her future held then, but Ms. Greenwood at the Boswell High School had a hand in mentoring her. Ms. Greenwood was a motivated individual, someone Janie looked up to in those formative years of life.

“She was a single woman, and had her own little cattle ranch,” Janie says. “I hung onto her because she was somebody I admired — her commitment and dedication to what she believed in and what she wanted out of life. She was an encourager for me to do many things.”

After marriage and her second son’s birth, Janie went to work for the Choctaw Nation in the 1980s. Now Senior Executive Officer for the Division of Commerce, having a cattle ranch, two successful sons, and grandchildren to spoil, Janie felt it was time to give back to the tribe. She established the Janie Hampton Dillard Scholarship, a competitive scholarship for Boswell High School (Oklahoma) graduates.

“It’s time for me to give back to someone who may need that little nudge to go to college, and for them to know there is somebody out there that does care,” she says. 

Ms. Greenwood didn’t know Janie’s situation back in the day, but she was always there for her. That gift lives on in Janie, who wants to be there for graduating seniors, to be a spark of inspiration for them to live life to the fullest.

“I want to give back into our heritage; to someone of Choctaw descent who has the attitude of, ‘I want to do better,’” Janie says. “I want to give opportunities to kids so they have someone at the beginning of their senior year to start talking to about how there’s so much more out in the world. Just slow your life down and take those opportunities.”

Credit: Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer