OFE News Release
Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence Announces New Trustees
September 22, 2004
OKLAHOMA CITY -- The Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence has
announced the addition of 16 new members to its Board of Trustees.
Appointed to serve three-year terms are: Marjorie A. Atwood, a Tulsa artist and community volunteer; Janie Axton, owner of Janie Axton Interiors of Oklahoma City; Donald E. Cain, president of SBC Oklahoma, Oklahoma City; Laura L. Clay, Payne Foundation language therapist, of Ardmore; Charles R. Hall, chairman, Exchange Bank & Trust Co., Perry; Tava Seifert Jones, attorney for the Groom Law Firm of Norman; David R. Lopez, president of Downtown Oklahoma City, Philis Mason, community volunteer, Cordell; John B. McCarroll, executive director, OETA, of Edmond; Jon M. McGrath, president, McGrath Construction Corp., of Tulsa; Stewart Ryan, University of Oklahoma associate professor of physics, Norman; Jabar Shumate, Democratic candidate for State House District 73, of Tulsa; Nicholas S. Sidorakis, general manager, Southern Hills Country Club, of Tulsa; Marian C. Tisdal, community volunteer, Clinton; Sandy Werner, chief operating officer and chief financial officer, First National Bank & Trust, Elk City; and Betty J.C. Wright, owner and chief executive officer of Wright Educational Services, of Del City.
The Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence is a nonprofit, charitable organization founded by former U.S. Sen. David L. Boren in 1985 to recognize and encourage academic excellence in Oklahoma’s public schools. The Foundation’s Academic Awards Program provides $199,000 in scholarships and cash awards annually to honor outstanding public school students and educators. It provides technical support and training to local education foundations across the state and sponsors the annual Fall Forum for Local Education Foundations, held each October on the University of Oklahoma Norman campus.
Among its other initiatives, the Foundation for Excellence coordinates a program to send Oklahoma teachers to the Colonial Williamsburg Teacher Institute each summer and provides scholarships for schools to receive Colonial Williamsburg Electronic Field Trips, bringing history to life in the classroom.
The foundation also awards Teacher Scholarships for Professional Development and administers the Schusterman Mentor Program, which pairs Academic All-State alumni with under-achieving elementary school students in Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Stillwater, Norman and Weatherford.
New trustees are listed below by hometown.
ARDMORE – Laura L. Clay is a language therapist for the Payne Foundation of Ardmore. She is active in the Southern Oklahoma Memorial Foundation, Ardmore Parks and Recreation and the Goddard Youth Board.
CLINTON – Marian C. Tisdal is a former special education teacher who has taught at schools in Clinton, Tulsa and Oklahoma City. She has been active in the Clinton Public School Foundation and the Clinton Community Council of the Arts. She served from 2001 to 2004 as co-chair for “The Art Show.” An active member of P.E.O., she is a chapter trustee and member of the Oklahoma P.E.O Projects Fund Inc. She is past president of the Western Oklahoma Ballet Theatre and past auxiliary president for Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity at the University of Oklahoma. She is a member of First United Methodist Church and United Methodist Women.
CORDELL -- Philis Mason, an active Cordell community volunteer, is a founding board member and officer of Main Street Cordell. She is a member and past officer of Alpha Nu Service Sorority and a member of the P.E.O. Sisterhood. She is a member of the Oklahoma and American Dental Hygiene Associations.
DEL CITY – Betty J.C. Wright, is owner and chief executive officer of Wright Educational Services, which provides continuing education workshops to educators throughout the state and nation. She is the recipient of numerous teaching awards. The Foundation for Excellence honored Wright in 1994 with its Oklahoma Medal for Excellence in Elementary Teaching. She has since remained an active supporter of the foundation, serving as chair of its Circle for Excellence and a member of its Fall Forum and Academic Awards Selection committees. Wright is a member and past chairman of the Rose State College Board of Regents. She is chair of the Oklahoma Student Invention Convention and serves on the Oklahoma Economic Council board. She is state chair for the National Association of Community Colleges and a member of the State Regents Mathematics Committee.
EDMOND – John B. McCarroll is executive director of the Oklahoma Educational Television Authority, OETA. He has more than 14 years’ experience in public television broadcasting. He is past president and general manager of KLRU-TV of Austin, Texas; past station manager for KAMU-TV in College Station, Texas; and past president and executive director of the Texas Public Broadcasting Association. He is a former college journalism instructor and student publications adviser.
ELK CITY – Sandy Werner is chief operating officer and chief financial officer of First National Bank & Trust of Elk City. She is president-elect of the Elk City Chamber of Commerce, treasurer of the Elk City Education Foundation and chairman of the Elk City Housing Authority. She is a Paul Harris Fellow of the Elk City Rotary. In addition, Werner is a member of the American Institute of CPAs, the Oklahoma Society of CPAs and the National Association of Security Dealers.
NORMAN – Tava Seifert Jones is an attorney for the Groom Law Firm in Norman. She was honored by the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence in 1987 as an Academic All-State Scholar.
Stewart Ryan is associate professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Oklahoma. He was honored by the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence in 1989 as the recipient of the Oklahoma Medal for Excellence in College and University Teaching.
OKLAHOMA CITY – Janie Axton is owner of Janie Axton Interiors at Expressions Inc. She is vice president and chairman-elect of the Deaconess Foundation and chair of its 2004 Foundation Gala.
Donald E. Cain is president of SBC Oklahoma, responsible for overseeing the company’s regulatory, legislative, governmental and external affairs activities in the state. An SBC employee since 1979, he most recently served as managing director of federal regulatory policy in the company’s Washington, D.C. office. Cain is an active member of the Oklahoma City Public Schools Foundation, United Way of Greater Oklahoma City, the Oklahoma City Chamber, the State Chamber, Downtown Oklahoma City Inc. and Allied Arts.
David R. Lopez is president of Downtown Oklahoma City Inc. He serves on the boards of the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, the Oklahoma Arts Institute, the Latino Community Development Agency and Allied Arts.
PERRY – Charles R. Hall is chairman of Exchange Bank & Trust Co. of Perry. He is a Perry city councilman, immediate past chair of the Perry Memorial Hospital Trust Authority and a city representative with the Oklahoma Municipal Power Authority. Hall is active in the Community Bank Council and the American Banker’s Association. A member of Leadership Oklahoma Class XIII, he serves as vice president of finance for Leadership Oklahoma. He also participates in the government relations council for the Oklahoma Bankers Association.
TULSA – Marjorie A. Atwood is a Tulsa artist and community volunteer. She is a member of the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition, The Guild, Guilders Society of America and the Oklahoma Alliance for Liturgy and the Arts. Atwood serves on committees for the Mental Health Association of Tulsa, Tulsa Senior Services and the Price Tower Arts Center.
Jon M. McGrath, a fourth-generation railroad contractor, is president of McGrath Construction Co. of Tulsa. A graduate of Leadership Oklahoma and Leadership Tulsa, he is chairman of the Oklahoma Native American Business Development Center and vice chairman of the National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association. McGrath is former chairman of the City of Tulsa Human Rights Commission and has served on the boards of the Indian Health Care Resource Center and the Child Abuse Network.
Jabar Shumate is the Democratic candidate for Oklahoma House District 73. He most recently served as assistant to the vice president for university outreach at the University of Oklahoma Tulsa campus and served as university press secretary at OU. Shumate serves on the boards of the Urban League of Oklahoma City and the Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration Society. He was appointed by Gov. Brad Henry to serve on Oklahoma’s Affirmative Action Review Committee. He is a member of the Tulsa Red Cross Diversity Advisory Committee and the Tulsa alumni chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc.
Nicholas S. Sidorakis is general manager of Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa. He is president of the Oklahoma/Kansas Chapter of the Club Managers Association of America and a past board member of the Oklahoma Restaurant Association. He is past president and a current board member of the Jenks Public Schools Education Foundation. Sidorakis also is vice president of First Tee of Tulsa.
CONTACT:
Brenda Wheelock,
OFE Communications Director
(405) 236-0006; e-mail bwheelock@ofe.org