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OFE News Release

Foundation to Mark 20th Anniversary With 2006 Academic Awards Banquet

April 24, 2006
OKLAHOMA CITY -- “On the Wings of Eagles” is the theme of the 2006 Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence Academic Awards Banquet, which will honor the state’s top public school students and educators and commemorate the foundation’s 20th anniversary.

More than 1,000 civic and business leaders and public education supporters are expected to attend the gala celebration, which will be held at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, May 20, at the Renaissance Tulsa Hotel and Convention Center, 6808 S. 107th E. Ave. David L. Boren, founder and chairman of the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence, will be the keynote speaker for the banquet as the nonprofit foundation marks its 20th anniversary of recognizing and encouraging academic excellence in Oklahoma’s public schools. An orchestra from the Oklahoma Arts Institute will provide music for the event.

The Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence established the banquet in 1987 to publicly recognize Oklahoma’s scholars in the same manner student athletes are feted. Christened Academic All-Staters, these 100 top graduating seniors represent the best and brightest from Oklahoma’s public schools. The banquet, which is one of only two major Oklahoma awards programs televised statewide, has been called the “Academy Awards of academic recognition” because of its prestige and pageantry.

The 2006 Academic All-State class hails from 68 different schools in 64 Oklahoma school districts. The honorees were selected from 594 nominations in what is described by Boren as “Oklahoma’s most rigorous academic competition.”

Recipients of the award must have an American College Test (ACT) composite score of at least 30; a Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) combined critical reading and math score of at least 1350; or be selected as a semi-finalist for a National Merit, National Achievement or National Hispanic Scholarship. Once nominated, recipients are selected on the basis of academic achievement, extracurricular activities and community involvement, as well as an essay submitted by each nominee. The prestigious award provides each recipient with $1,500 in scholarship money, a medallion and a commemorative plaque.

During the banquet, the foundation also presents the Oklahoma Medal for Excellence to three public school teachers, one each at the elementary, secondary, and college/university levels, and an administrator from the elementary or secondary level. A Medal for Excellence also will be awarded to an exemplary alternative education program. Each medal recipient receives a $7,500 cash award as well as a glass “Roots and Wings” sculpture, created by Oklahoma artist Ron Roberts and produced by Jim Triffo of Oklahoma City. In addition, the schools of the teachers and administrator each receive a $1,000 cash award.

Teresa B. Adwan, president of the Foundation for Excellence, said this year’s anniversary banquet promises to be extraordinary. “We are so pleased that David Boren has accepted our invitation to be the keynote speaker, and we look forward to honoring him for his vision and influence that created the foundation,” she said. “We also look forward to recognizing special supporters, founding trustees and former award winners at this year’s gala.”

The 20th annual Academic Awards Banquet will be televised statewide at 8 p.m. Saturday, May 27, on OETA, the Oklahoma Educational Television Authority. The public is invited to attend, and banquet admission is $40, payable in advance.

For more information, contact the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence at (405) 236-0006 or visit the foundation’s web site at www.ofe.org.