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2007 Distinguished Service Award

Teresa Potter

The Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence has named Teresa Potter, a teacher at Fisher Elementary School in MOORE, as the recipient of its 2007 Distinguished Service Award.

Fisher Elementary School teacher Teresa Potter of MOORE receives the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence’s Distinguished Service Award from foundation president Ken Fergeson.

“Teresa Potter is one of the most active spokeswomen and ambassadors for our foundation among Oklahoma teachers,” said Emily Stratton, executive director of the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence. “Through her volunteer work with our early American history programs, Teresa has touched the lives of hundreds of Oklahoma students and teachers.”

Potter began her association with the foundation in 2000 when she received an OFE scholarship to attend the Colonial Williamsburg Teacher Institute in Williamsburg, Va. The foundation selects approximately 25 Oklahoma teachers each year to receive scholarships to the institute, where they are immersed in early American history through hands-on activities and reenactments of historic events.

Since 2000, Potter has returned to Colonial Williamsburg six times to serve as a peer facilitator, sharing her experience and resources with teachers from Oklahoma and other states.

For the past six years, she has worked in conjunction with teacher institute alumni and the Foundation for Excellence as the project director of Colonial Day at the Capitol. This annual event transports nearly 500 students back in time through hands-on workshops and opportunities to interact with historical character interpreters.

Last January, Potter went the extra mile to help coordinate a 15-year reunion and teacher’s workshop for Colonial Williamsburg Teacher Institute alumni from throughout Oklahoma.

“Through her hard work and creativity, Teresa helped make the Williamsburg reunion a huge success,” Stratton added.

During her 18 years in education, Potter has taught at schools in Colten, Calif.; Crowley, Texas; and Putnam City, Mustang and Moore districts in Oklahoma. For the past seven years, she has taught at Fisher Elementary, where she serves as student council adviser. She is a fellow in the A+ Schools Network and active in the Fisher PTA Advisory Board and the Moore Association for Classroom Teachers. Potter is a member of the Oklahoma Association for Gifted, Creative and Talented and the National Council for Social Studies. She has received the Golden Apple Teaching Award from Putnam City Public Schools and an Oklahoma-Fund for Teachers grant.