• Academic Awards Banquet
• Colonial Williamsburg Teacher Institute
• Colonial Williamsburg Electronic Field Trips
• David and Molly Boren Mentoring Initiative
• Local Education Foundation Outreach
• Fund for Teachers - Oklahoma
• Teacher Scholarships for Professional Development
• Calendar of Events
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What We Do

Our Programs

Each spring, our Academic Awards Banquet honors 100 of Oklahoma’s top graduating seniors as Academic All-Staters and six outstanding educators as Medal for Excellence winners. Since 1987, the Foundation has awarded more than $2.4 million in scholarships and awards to these exceptional students, educators and academic programs. Broadcast on OETA, the annual banquet has become the state’s most prestigious academic event, celebrating the best and brightest in Oklahoma’s public schools.

Our Local Education Foundation Outreach Program has helped build and support nearly 200 local education foundations, which together contribute over $1 million annually to public schools in communities throughout Oklahoma. Each year, the Foundation hosts the Fall Forum, the only event in the state that brings together Oklahoma teachers, administrators and LEF volunteers for networking and training sessions in areas critical to the success of local education foundations. Recently, the Foundation has launched LEF Regional Training Sessions additional, in-depth training at locations around the state.

For more than 10 years, the Foundation has administered scholarships to early American history teachers to attend the renowned Colonial Williamsburg Teacher Institute in Virginia. Partnering with the Oklahoma State Department of Education, the Foundation now offers free subscriptions to the Colonial Williamsburg Electronic Field Trip Series. This interactive program uses the latest technology, including satellite and Internet access, to bring historical re-enactments into the classroom. Our new initiative gives many more Oklahoma schoolchildren the opportunity to participate in this award-winning history curriculum than would ever have the opportunity to visit Colonial Williamsburg in person.

Aware of the tremendous difference that mentors can make in the lives of under-achieving students, the Foundation launched the David and Molly Boren Mentoring Initiative, which draws on the statewide resources of the Foundation to promote the establishment and growth of school-based mentoring programs in our state. OFE offers sessions on mentoring at the annual Fall Forum and promotes mentoring as part of its outreach program to local education foundations and school districts throughout the state.

Research has shown that teacher quality is a stronger determinant of student achievement than the student’s economic standing, race, or parents’ educational attainment. Our Teacher Scholarships for Professional Development improves teacher performance and boosts morale by providing scholarships to top-quality professional development seminars. Teachers may choose from cutting-edge workshops and training sessions at regional, national and international levels. Donors to this program have the opportunity to create an endowed scholarship in their name or in honor of a loved one or special teacher. The new, statewide Fund for Teachers scholarship program allows individual teachers or teams to create their own summer learning opportunity to enrich and renew their professional and personal lives.