Some children need to learn in different ways.

Nellie Sanders was among them.

That’s part of what gives special meaning to her recent appointment to a state education board.

Sanders on Wednesday was informed that she had been appointed to the Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter School Board.

The appointment was made by State Senate Pro Tempore Greg Treat, one of three people who can make appointments to the board along with the governor and speaker of the house.

Sanders’ appointment to the vacant third congressional district seat begins immediately and runs through Oct. 31, 2025.

“I was astonished,” said Sanders, who is the senior vice president of philanthropy at the Center of Family of Love in Okarche.

She lives in Kingfisher with her husband Mike, the former state representative, and sons Davis, almost 14, and Walker, 11.

“Senator Treat reached out to me and mentioned I had been recommended and they were gauging my interest. I did not hesitate to do it when asked to serve,” Sanders said.

The Statewide Virtual Charter School Board provides oversight of the operations of statewide virtual charter schools, which saw a boom in enrollment during the COVID pandemic.

Although the enrollment numbers have since leveled off, Epic Charter Schools remains the state’s third-largest school district behind only Oklahoma City and Tulsa.

But all of them serve a purpose, said Sanders, and it’s one that is personal for her.

“I’m especially honored for this appointment because I understand how important different learning styles are and having accessible ways for people to receive education is one of the single most important things we can do for our children,” she said.

Sanders, admittedly, struggled to learn as a child and those struggles continued even into college.

Although it wasn’t diagnosed at the time, Sanders eventually learned she was dyslexic, though she never publicly acknowledged it.

Then the Sanders’ son, Walker, was diagnosed as dyslexic, which is when she admitted to those closest to her of her own struggles.

Such revelations pushed Mike Sanders to become more proactive and in May 2020, House Bill 2804, co-authored by him and Sen. Stephanie Bice, was signed into law by Gov. Kevin Stitt.

It requires screening for dyslexia for students in kindergarten through third grade who aren’t reading at grade level and is now in effect statewide.

“One shoe does not fit all,” said Sanders, noting that 1 in 5 children “learn differently.”

“I’m especially passionate about people who do learn differently, those in special education programs, those with dyslexia or with varying abilities to learn to get the opportunity to have access to education that is best for them in a way that is best for them,” she added.

Her own experiences as a child, as an adult - she says she still lives with dyslexia everyday - and as a parent make her a determined board member.

“It’s one area I know in my heart I can represent that is truly authentic to me in my experience and it’s what I’d want for me and my children if the right kind of education wasn’t accessible to them,” she said.

Virtual charter schools, she said, may bridge that gap for many.

“Education is not a cookie cutter. It’s so hard because education is so big,” she said. “This can provide people with opportunity to get individualized opportunities and at a pace they learn best.”

Charter schools - namely Epic - and even the state board itself have come under fire in recent years.

Epic’s two founders and its longtime chief financial officer were arrested last year following a multi-year investigation into alleged embezzlement of taxpayer money.

The state board will oversee the ongoing reforms of that school, which has seen a large turnover at the top of its administrative and local board ranks.

And Sanders will be part of a largely-new state board.

It hasn’t met since November 2022 due to a lack of enough members.

The five-member board has set at three - its legal minimum to meet - since September 2021 when two members resigned due to scrutiny of their alleged ties to Epic.

Then in November of last year, Brandon Tatum resigned when he was named Stitt’s new chief of staff.

Chairman Robert Franklin of Tulsa and Barry Beauchamp of Lawton have been the only board members since Tatum resigned, meaning meetings in December and January were canceled.

When the new board is next slated to meet on Feb. 14, Sanders said it will be a time to start anew.

“For me, I see it as an extraordinary opportunity. At that time, there was a different circumstance for different people who worked through that,” she said of the controversy that has surrounded the board.

“This is an opportunity for a new slate. We can learn from those things and only strive to continue to be better.”

Sanders said she’ll have support close by as she takes this journey: Her husband, Mike.

“We’re in service together,” she said. “Anything I do, he does with me. An appointment like this means he can be a great mentor to me. It’s imperative to us that we give children the resources they need to learn and giving options to families of those children who need the support is most critical.

“This truly is a chance to incorporate and provide opportunities.”