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OFE News Release

2007 Oklahoma Medal For Excellence Winners Announced

February 25, 2007
OKLAHOMA CITY -- The Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence announced today the five winners of its Oklahoma Medal for Excellence awards honoring the state’s top educators and an outstanding alternative education program.

The state’s top academic prizes will be presented at the foundation’s 21st annual Academic Awards Banquet on May 19 at the Cox Convention Center in Oklahoma City. Each of the five winners will receive a $7,500 cash award, with an additional $1,000 cash award going to the schools of the winning teachers and administrator. The recipients also will receive glass “Roots and Wings” sculptures, created by Oklahoma artist Ron Roberts and produced by Jim Triffo of Oklahoma City. Medals are awarded annually to outstanding Oklahoma teachers, one each at the elementary, secondary, and college/university levels, and an administrator from the elementary or secondary level. An exemplary alternative education program also receives medallion honors.

This year’s recipients of the Medals for Excellence in Teaching are: Eileta Faye Creekpaum, Robert E. Lee Elementary School, (elementary level), TULSA; Kathleen A. Blake, Edmond Memorial High School (secondary), EDMOND; and James Breckenridge, Southwestern Oklahoma State University, (college/university), WEATHERFORD. The winner of the Medal for Excellence in Administration is Bobby D. Russell, superintendent of PAULS VALLEY Public Schools. OKLAHOMA CITY’s Emerson High School, with its Outreach and Metro programs, is the recipient of the Oklahoma Medal for Excellence in Alternative Education.

“We know that education is the best investment Oklahoma can make in its future,” said David L. Boren, founder and chairman of the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence, a non-profit organization that recognizes and encourages academic excellence in the state’s public schools. “By honoring these exceptional educators and alternative education program, we are sending a message that Oklahomans deeply value excellence in public schools and the professionals who have given so much of themselves to enrich the lives of our children.”

Eileta Faye Creekpaum, winner of the Oklahoma Medal for Excellence in Elementary Education, has earned “legendary status” at Tulsa’s Robert E. Lee Elementary School, where she has taught for 35 of her 40 years as a kindergarten teacher. Creekpaum has devoted her career to building a strong foundation and abiding love for learning among her students. “I believe education should build a strong cognitive, emotional, social and physical foundation for the whole child,” she said. Creekpaum creates a hands-on learning environment for her students, combining games, songs, stories, scientific discovery and group activities. “Few teachers could claim to have such an integrated and engaging approach to learning, whether in kindergarten or the Ivy Leagues,” wrote one parent. A lifelong pianist, Creekpaum composes songs on a variety of subjects to help make daily lessons fun and memorable. She hosts an annual Egg Drop to help students develop creativity and problem-solving skills as they “engineer” a container to prevent their egg from breaking. Above all, families and co-workers praise Creekpaum for her love and commitment to her students, many of whom still receive personal notes of encouragement from Creekpaum years after they have graduated. “She’s a teacher’s teacher,” said colleague Grace Dean, “the kind that – when a fresh young college graduate starts his or her first year in the classroom – you point to and say, “There, watch her.”

Kathleen A. Blake, winner of the Medal for Excellence in Secondary Teaching, teaches visual art at Edmond Memorial High School. During her 32 years in education, the Nationally Board Certified teacher has earned numerous teaching awards and has helped dozens of her students win state, regional and national art competitions. One characteristic that sets Blake apart, said colleague Roxy Merklin, is her ability to “engage students in art to teach them the lessons of life.” After Hurricane Katrina, 400 of Blake’s students created an art installation titled “Pinwheels Propelling Hope” to remember victims and raise funds for the Red Cross. Another recent project partnered students with a local retirement home to create portraits of residents. “No matter how great or small our activities, I want my students to understand that what matters are their caring ways and conscientious decisions to become a part of something greater that themselves,” Blake said. An accomplished artist herself, Blake is passionate about her subject matter and creates an environment where students are free to explore and take chances. “I teach in anticipation that my students, whether they become doctors, lawyers, electricians, plumbers, teachers or artists, will better understand themselves and their place in the world,” Blake said. “The abilities to take risks, step back and to be objective about one’s work … allow my students to have a richer, more meaningful life.”

The recipient of the Medal for Excellence in College and University Teaching is James Breckenridge, who has served nearly 40 years as professor of piano at Southwestern Oklahoma State University. When Breckenridge was a young man, he recalls reading a quote that had a profound impact on him as a student: “The greatest good that we can do for others is not just to share our riches with them, but to reveal their riches to themselves.” At the time, the statement reminded Breckenridge of his own piano teacher and the gifts she had revealed in him as a budding musician. He vowed to one day do the same for his own students. An authority on Suzuki teaching methods and recent president of the Oklahoma Music Educators Association, Breckenridge has helped bring national attention to Southwestern’s piano program, producing many successful college and university professors, private instructors, conductors and professional musicians. Department chair Terry Segress praised Breckenridge as “a tremendous motivator and exceptional manager and monitor of his student’s learning.” Former student Debbie Kaczynski said she admired Breckenridge for his energetic teaching style and ability to understand how students learn individually. “Dr. B would use all his ‘tools’ to help me successfully learn and play my pieces.” Now a music teacher herself, Kaczynski often finds herself using the same techniques. “If I could give one tenth to my students of what Dr. B gave to me, I would consider that a great success in my life.”

Earning this year’s Medal for Excellence in Elementary/Secondary Administration is Bobby D. Russell, superintendent of Pauls Valley Public Schools since 2000. A fourth-generation educator, Russell has served as a teacher, coach and principal before accepting his first superintendent position for Seiling Public Schools in 1988. During his six years in Pauls Valley, Russell has been credited with rallying community support to help transform a struggling school system. Under his leadership, Pauls Valley has launched a successful community-supported after school program, “Beyond the Bell,” which provides tutoring, visual arts, music and physical education programming for more than 400 students. The district has expanded advanced-placement courses and established a college concurrent enrollment program in partnership with four universities. Russell oversaw the implementation of full-day preschool and kindergarten programs and the introduction of A+ Schools arts integration programs in each of the elementary schools. In addition, Pauls Valley has passed two bond issues to renovate the historic high school building into a state-of-the-art junior high school and has obtained additional funds to modernize the district’s library system and computer systems. “It’s amazing how much difference one person can make,” said Lindsay Schools superintendent Doyle Greteman. “His uncanny ability to deal with problems head-on and bring all components of the community together was key to getting the schools back on the right track.”

Emerson High School in Oklahoma City has been named the recipient of this year’s Medal for Excellence in Alternative Education. Known as a school of second chances for “recovered” and “would-be” drop-out students, Emerson High School is the only alternative program in Oklahoma maintaining stand-alone accreditation as a high school, said Director Debra Thomas. Through two distinct programs, the school provides opportunity for adolescents who can not meet the academic and/or attendance requirements of traditional high schools, have special adjustment needs or who receive behavioral referrals. Emerson’s Metro Program serves students in grades 9 through 12, while the school’s Outreach Program provides additional services, such as childcare, medical care and parenting resources, to pregnant students and teen parents. Emerson draws upon a variety of techniques and resources to help students succeed, including small class sizes, individualized instruction plans, life-skills training, counseling, mentoring and service-learning opportunities. One strength of Emerson is its ability to serve as a “surrogate family” to its students, Thomas added. “Because these at-risk students have so many personal and survival needs which must be met to free their minds to learn, teachers in both Outreach and Metro must provide mentoring, nurturing and referral to community resources as the students attempt to build their own character for life at the same time they are being educated,” she said.

In addition to presenting the Medal for Excellence awards, the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence will honor 100 of Oklahoma’s top public high school seniors as Academic All-Staters at its May 19 banquet. The Academic Awards Banquet is open to the public, with admission priced at $50. The awards ceremony will be televised statewide by OETA, the Oklahoma Educational Television Authority, at 8 p.m. May 26. For more information, call the Foundation for Excellence office at (405) 236-0006 or visit its web site at www.ofe.org.

Founded in 1985, the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence is a statewide, non-profit organization dedicated to recognizing and encouraging academic excellence in Oklahoma’s public schools. Through its Academic Awards Program, the foundation provides more than $190,000 in scholarships and cash awards annually to honor outstanding graduating seniors as Academic All-Staters and exceptional educators as Medal for Excellence winners.