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OFE News Release

Foundation to Honor State's Top Educators, Students at May 17 Academic Awards Banquet in Tulsa

April 18, 2008
OKLAHOMA CITY -- Three outstanding Oklahoma teachers, a superintendent and an alternative education program will be honored along with 100 of the state’s top public high school seniors when the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence hosts its 22nd annual Academic Awards Banquet at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, May 17, at the Renaissance Tulsa Hotel and Convention Center, 6806 S. 107th E. Ave. in Tulsa. Doors open at 6 p.m.

Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and NBC News commentator Doris Kearns Goodwin will be keynote speaker and former Gov. George Nigh will serve as emcee for the statewide tribute to “the best of the best” in Oklahoma’s public schools. The gala event, which is attended by nearly 1,000 people, will also feature musical entertainment by the Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute Orchestra. Admission is open to the public, and reservations, at $50 per person, should be made by May 5. A mail-in reservation form is available online at www.ofe.org.

Goodwin, who will speak on “Leadership Lessons from Abraham Lincoln,” is the author of the best-selling book “Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln.” A biopic film based on the book is being developed by director Steven Spielberg, with actors Liam Neeson and Sally Field starring as Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln. A frequent guest historian on news programs and documentaries, Goodwin also has written bestselling books on the Kennedys, Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt and Lyndon B. Johnson.

Co-chairs for the banquet are Tulsa community leaders and Foundation for Excellence trustees Sharon Bartlett and Lucy Barker. Organizers chose “Leading the Way” as the theme for this year’s event because “it not only spotlights the leadership of great students and educators in the state, but it also highlights the leadership characteristics of one of America’s greatest presidents,” Bartlett said.

The Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence is a non-profit, charitable organization founded in 1985 by then-U.S. Sen. David L. Boren to recognize and encourage academic excellence in Oklahoma’s public schools. Since 1987, the foundation has annually selected 100 outstanding public high school seniors as Academic All-Staters. This prestigious academic prize provides each recipient with a $2,000 scholarship and bronze medallion. The 2008 Academic All-State class hails from 72 different schools in 62 Oklahoma school districts. The honorees were selected from 512 nominations in what is described by Boren as “Oklahoma’s most rigorous academic competition.”

To be nominated, students must meet one of the following criteria: 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, students are selected on the basis of academic achievement, extracurricular activities and community involvement, as well as an essay submitted by each nominee. The 2008 Academic All-Staters are listed online at www.ofe.org.

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 is also awarded to an exemplary alternative education program. Each medal recipient receives a $10,000 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 receive a $2,000 cash prize.

This year’s recipients of the Oklahoma 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, will receive the Medal for Excellence in Administration. The Choctaw Alternative Transitional School in CHOCTAW is the recipient of the Oklahoma Medal for Excellence in Alternative Education.

The Academic Awards Banquet will premiere statewide on public television at 8 p.m. Saturday, May 24, on OETA. Subsequent airings will be shown on OETA’s OKLA digital channel. For digital broadcast listings, visit the station’s Web site at www.oeta.onenet.net.

For more information on the Academic Awards Banquet, visit the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence Web site at www.ofe.org or call (405) 236-0006.