OFE News Release
2010 Oklahoma Medal for Excellence Winners Announced
February 28, 2010
OKLAHOMA CITY – The Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence announced today the winners of its Oklahoma Medal for Excellence awards honoring five outstanding educators in Oklahoma’s public schools.
The prestigious awards will be presented at the foundation’s 24th annual Academic Awards Banquet on May 22 at the Renaissance Tulsa Hotel and Convention Center.
Each of the five winners will receive a $5,000 cash prize and a glass “Roots and Wings” sculpture, designed by the late 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, community college/regional university and research university levels. In addition, the foundation will present a Medal for Excellence to an exceptional administrator from the elementary or secondary level.
This year’s recipients of the Medals for Excellence in Teaching are: Diane Reece, Bokoshe Elementary School, BOKOSHE; elementary level; Dr. Randy M. Baker, Putnam City North High School, OKLAHOMA CITY, secondary level; Audrey Schmitz, instructor of visual art, Northern Oklahoma College, TONKAWA, regional university/community college level; and Dr. David A. Sabatini, professor of civil engineering and environmental science at the University of Oklahoma, NORMAN, research university level. The recipient of the Medal for Excellence in elementary/secondary administration is Terry E. Davidson, superintendent of Comanche Public Schools, COMANCHE.
“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.”
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Diane Reece |
Diane Reece, winner of the Oklahoma Medal for Excellence in Elementary Education, teaches kindergarten as well as fifth and sixth-grade science at Bokoshe Elementary School in southeast Oklahoma. In a district that graduates less than 20 students each year, Reece has had the opportunity to touch the lives of literally every student during her 30-plus years of teaching. In the classroom, Reece incorporates music, movement, art, drama and a variety of hand-on activities that engage all students and incorporate all learning styles. Reece also uses teaching strategies that build students’ self-esteem and excitement for learning. Among her creative teaching activities is MicroSociety, in which students produce a product, pay taxes and run for office to help them understand their future responsibilities. “As educators, we have the single most important job in society – the job of helping a child acquire the knowledge and skills to be contributing and responsible citizens in their community for life,” Reece said. Outside the classroom, Reece has received several major grants to benefit children throughout the community, including a 21st Century Learning Center grant of over $320,000 to provide after-school and summer enrichment programs. She has received two “Learn and Serve” grants – one that helped students learn better health and nutrition habits and, most recently, a grant that helped her fifth and sixth-graders create the town’s first library. The students met with town leaders to acquire space for the library and then worked on carpeting, painting and collecting books for the new facility. A National Board Certified educator, Reece serves as a mentor to other teachers and has received numerous teaching honors, including selection as a state Master Teacher II.
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Dr. Randy M. Baker |
Dr. Randy M. Baker, winner of the Oklahoma Medal for Excellence in Secondary Teaching, is department chair and teaches English at Putnam City North High School. In more than 35 years as an educator, his teaching philosophy has remained the same: to develop strong teacher-student relationships; to establish high expectations through rigorous curriculum and to help students understand the relevance of what they learn to their own lives. Through writing assignments and discussion, Baker makes a concerted effort to get to know the needs, hopes and dreams of each student in his class and to create an environment where it is safe to take risks, to make mistakes and to grow. While Baker’s students may learn the classics, his approach to teaching is very contemporary. Students use pod casts, PowerPoint presentations, YouTube videos and Facebook to help make literature and composition exciting. Baker invites students’ parents to participate in classroom discussions, to write their own words of love and advice to their children during a unit on “Hamlet” or to help create Greek masks during a study of “Oedipus Rex.” Baker’s Advanced Placement literature class continues to grow in popularity. “Dr. Baker’s passion for his vocation is quiet and assured, though his passion for his subject brims over into shouted quotations from ‘Beowulf’ in its original Anglo-Saxon, mask-making workshops, Shakespearean dramatizations and candle-lit poetry readings,” said former student Jillian Hanon. Baker, who holds National Board Certification and a Ph.D. in English education, has received numerous honors, including district Teacher of the Year. He was recognized as one of the “Top 100 Innovative Teachers in the United States” by “Business Weekly.”
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Audrey Schmitz |
The recipient of the Oklahoma Medal for Excellence in Teaching at a Regional University/Community College is Audrey Schmitz, instructor of visual art at Northern Oklahoma College in Tonkawa. Schmitz begins her classes each semester telling the story of how her first-grade teacher, Ms. Barnhardt, encouraged Schmitz from a very young age and saw in her the potential to be an artist. Since joining the faculty at NOC in 1989, Schmitz has sought to do the same for her own students. “I believe that facilitating the discovery of a life of purpose is what education is all about,” she said. The learning objectives Schmitz sets for her students include growth in technical and visual literacy skills, honing discipline and problem-solving abilities, developing effective research methods and gaining skills of time management. “Audrey Schmitz establishes an environment for making art that requires discipline, dedication and a strong work ethic,” said colleague Neo Kirby. A professional artist herself, Schmitz has expanded course offerings at NOC to include three-dimensional art and created a ceramics and sculpture studio. She also teaches art history and art appreciation, including a successful web-based course. In 1996, Schmitz accepted the additional position as director of NOC’s Eleanor Hays Art Gallery, which opened new doors for developing student internships and learning opportunities, including a gallery/portfolio course that culminates with the Annual Northern Student Art Exhibition. To commemorate Oklahoma’s Centennial, Schmitz led students, faculty and community leaders in the creation of “Heart in the Park,” a heart-shaped labyrinth located in Tonkawa’s Centennial Park. Schmitz is the recipient of numerous art and teaching honors and was recently recognized by her community with the “Pride of Tonkawa Award.”
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Dr. David A. Sabatini |
Dr. David A. Sabatini, who holds the David Ross Boyd Professorship and Sun Oil Company Chair at the OU School of Civil Engineering and Environmental Science, has been named winner of the 2010 Oklahoma Medal for Excellence in Teaching at a Research University. An internationally recognized researcher and environmental scientist, Sabatini has also received numerous teaching honors for his ability to help students understand complex engineering concepts and to apply them to real-world problems. “My goal as a teacher is to help mold the lives of my students, motivating them to set their sights high and inspiring them to make the world a better place,” Sabitini said. Not only does Sabatini teach upper-level and graduate courses, but he also teaches introductory engineering courses and involves freshmen in actual design projects to help them gain excitement for engineering. In the classroom, Sabatini uses analogies and common every-day examples to explain difficult concepts. He uses hands-on demonstrations, peer mentoring and role playing to accommodate the variety of learning styles. Sabatini strives to develop relationships with each of his students. He regularly invites students to participate in extracurricular discussion groups on books such as “Lincoln on Leadership” to help students gain important career and life skills. Sabatini also seeks to shape global citizens through service learning opportunities. As the director of OU’s WaTER (Water Technologies for Emerging Regions) Center, Sabatini has engaged OU students in engineering projects that have brought safe drinking water and improved sanitation to villages in Asia, Africa and Central America. “Professor Sabatini has been, without a doubt, the best teacher I have ever had, and he continues to serve as my role model as a teacher, as a researcher and as a person,” wrote former student Edgar Acosta.
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Terry E. Davidson |
The winner of the Medal for Excellence in Elementary/Secondary Administration is Terry E. Davidson, superintendent of Comanche Public Schools. A 37-year veteran educator, Davidson served as superintendent in Wright City and Lukfata before accepting his current position in 1995. Comanche alumnus Dayton Sitz said Superintendent Davidson has made excellence his “mantra” and led educators, students and the community to make it a reality. Despite economic challenges, Davidson has sought and received more than $3 million in grants and rallied the community to pass a bond issue for school improvements. Under Davidson’s leadership the district consolidated three elementary schools into one modern facility; launched an alternative education program and daycare center; updated computer systems and installed cost-saving geothermal energy systems in several buildings. Davidson received grants to implement a counseling program for at-risk students and a state-of-the art fitness program for the district. Under his direction, the school system has also implemented a new math curriculum to improve student learning. Steven Dunham, principal of Comanche High School, praised Davidson for his ability to inspire others to “be better than they think they can be.” Davidson regularly sends “Supe Letters,” inspirational emails, to employees on topics such as courage, dedication and personal growth. Elizabeth Ressel, a parent in the school system, said she appreciated the time Davidson spends encouraging students, whether joining them for lunch or attending their school performances. “Since Mr. Davidson arrived in Comanche 14 years ago, he has raised the bar for schools across Oklahoma,” Ressel added. “He has done this with limited resources and ever decreasing state aid. His vision and leadership are taking Comanche Public Schools to new heights.”
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 22 banquet. The event will feature a keynote address by two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning author and historian David McCullough. 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 29. 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 has provided more than $3.6 million in scholarships and cash awards to honor outstanding graduating seniors as Academic All-Staters and exceptional educators as Medal for Excellence winners.