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OFE News Release

2008 Oklahoma Medal for Excellence Winners Announced

February 26, 2008
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 22nd annual Academic Awards Banquet on May 17 at the Renaissance Tulsa Hotel and Convention Center, 6808 S. 107th E. Ave. Each of the five winners will receive a $10,000 cash award, with an additional $2,000 cash prize 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: Valorie Lewis, Stigler Elementary School, STIGLER, elementary level; Sheryl Melton, Beaver High School, BEAVER; secondary level; and James J. Yoch Jr., professor of English, University of Oklahoma, NORMAN; college/university level. Steven P. Crawford, superintendent of BYNG Public Schools, was named winner of the Medal for Excellence in Administration. The Choctaw Alternative Transitional School in CHOCTAW was selected as 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, 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.”

Valorie Lewis, winner of the Oklahoma Medal for Excellence in Elementary Education, teaches third grade and serves as technology director for Stigler Grade School. Superintendent William Self said if Lewis’s life story could be made into a book, it would be called “The Heart that Overcomes.” After experiencing a childhood of abuse, poverty and homelessness, Lewis discovered her true potential through the love and support of two special teachers. Now, as an educator herself, Lewis strives to help every child achieve greatness by believing in themselves, having a positive attitude about learning and developing good work ethics. Lewis incorporates self-esteem building activities into her daily routine, including Positive Comment Cards, where students identify positive attributes of their classmates, and Community Circle, where each student has an opportunity to share joys and concerns. Colleagues praise Lewis for creating innovative, engaging lessons that help students of all levels and abilities learn to their highest potential. “All students can learn!” Lewis said. “ADD, ADHD, LD, GT, MR, rich, poor, smart and stupid are all labels that we have given students. I believe that labels are for canned goods, not children. Remove the labels and you have kids who want to succeed.” Outside the classroom, Lewis serves as an after-school program adviser, Parent Academy instructor and technology trainer for fellow teachers. The recipient of many teaching awards, she was recently one of 20 educators nationwide named to the USA Today National Teaching Team.

Sheryl Melton, winner of the Medal for Excellence in Secondary Teaching, teaches 11th- and 12th-grade English and Advanced Placement English at Beaver High School. A 37-year teaching veteran, Melton has been consistently named “favorite teacher” by Beaver students and is a five-time winner of Beaver School Teacher of the Year. What sets Melton apart, says colleague Kerry Hamilton, is her positive attitude and willingness to step into uncharted territory to advance her students’ potential. In 1988, Melton became the nation’s first Interactive television teacher, broadcasting her innovative teaching techniques to rural Beaver County schools. Whether she is teaching the sonnets of Shakespeare to a single classroom or presenting multimedia vocabulary lessons to hundreds of teens, Melton seeks to make a personal connection with each student. “Only when a student feels a connection, a bridge, a relevance to his life, does a lesson have value to that student,” she said. A nationally certified educator and Master Teacher, Melton also serves as Beaver’s yearbook adviser, Student Council adviser and Academic Team coach. She has launched several initiatives to support academic achievement in her district, including the After School Attention Program (ASAP) to help students improve skills and the Beaver Education Support Team (BEST), an organization that honors academic success. Former student Stefani Overton said she hopes to follow in Mrs. Melton’s footsteps and become a teacher. “She always has a bubbling personality and makes her students feel important and comfortable in her classroom” Overton said.

The recipient of the Oklahoma Medal for Excellence in College and University Teaching is Professor James J. Yoch Jr., whose courses on Shakespeare and other Renaissance writers have been favorites of OU students since 1964. “In Dr. Yoch’s classroom, not only Shakespeare, but all literature comes alive and students emerge from his courses with a newfound passion for art, for language and for a deeply felt sense of the importance of what we call ‘literary masterpieces,’” said colleague Joanna Rapf. In the 60s, Yoch was a pioneer in engaging his students to learn more about Shakespeare’s works by putting on their own plays, a practice his students still continue today. “Putting on a play makes students self-reliant and inventive, and in their performances they often create something beyond and independent of a faculty member’s orders,” Yoch said. Through these performances, said former OU student Steve Knight, “Dr. Yoch pushes the limit of Shakespearean scholarship and tutelage by placing the words in the students’ mouths and the feelings in their hearts.” A graduate of Notre Dame and Princeton Universities, Yoch has gained legendary status on campus as a demanding yet very accessible teacher. Despite teaching for 43 years, he never re-uses lectures, discussion topics or exams. Yoch is the recipient of an OU Regents Award for Excellence in Teaching and was selected in 2001 to participate in OU’s Dream Course program, co-teaching a course titled “Four Roads to Shakespeare.”

The winner of the Medal for Excellence in Elementary/Secondary Administration is Steven P. Crawford, superintendent of Byng Public Schools. Crawford’s experience as a school administrator has included posts in Stuart, Kiefer, Moss and Shattuck and leadership in many state and national education organizations. Since joining Byng Public Schools in 2001, he has improved teamwork and morale among staff, boosted academic performance by introducing research-based initiatives and acquired more than $400,000 in technology grants to benefit his district. He has invested in professional development for all staff and systematically renovated district buildings through low-interest federal loans and the passage of two bond issues. When a fire damaged buildings, technology and communication networks last January, Crawford worked quickly to restore facilities and services with little disruption to student learning. “Steven Crawford is truly a leader among leaders,” said colleague Todd Crabtree. “He is an exemplary model in the community and a tireless advocate for kids and educators at the local, state and national levels.” Under Crawford’s leadership, two Byng schools have been named Title I Distinguished Schools and the high school was selected as a High Challenged/High Achieving School by the Oklahoma Commission for Education Leadership. Byng graduate Courtney Timmons remembers Crawford as an administrator who is encouraging to students. “He is always in the school hallways, in assemblies and other school events,” she said. “He also writes personal notes of congratulations to students. You can be assured that every Byng student knows, appreciates and respects him.”

The Choctaw Alternative Transitional School (CATS) has been named the recipient of this year’s Medal for Excellence in Alternative Education. Founded in 1994, the school serves approximately 60 high school students from Choctaw-Nicoma Park, Luther and Jones school districts. Participants attend evening classes at Choctaw High School and participate in daytime learning such as career-tech, post secondary concurrent enrollment or work-site learning. The program serves students who have not been successful in a traditional learning environment and provides them with opportunities to earn their high school diploma, gain self-esteem and life skills, and develop lifelong learning habits. Each student participating in the program receives an individual plan to meet academic and graduation goals; a career-development plan of study; and a network of teachers, counselors and work-place mentors to assist them in meeting their goals. With a self-paced and competency-driven curriculum, students must score 80 percent or better before advancing to the next unit within a course. “The CATS program is not just an easy way out for students who cannot succeed in a traditional setting,” emphasized teacher Angela Harvey. The Oklahoma Technical Assistance Center, which evaluates state alternative programs, gave the Choctaw program exemplary and outstanding ratings for showing significant improvement in student success. Faculty are continually adding hands-on projects to support learning objectives, such as making model bridges, rockets, writing portfolios, sculptures and models of cells. Connie Stine, whose son attends the alternative school, said the program has not only improved his grades and attendance, but also his confidence. “This program has given him the tools that will help him throughout his life,” she said. “He actually smiles now.”

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 17 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 24. 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 $258,000 in scholarships and cash awards annually to honor outstanding graduating seniors as Academic All-Staters and exceptional educators as Medal for Excellence winners.