Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence

In 1993, the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence began a partnership with the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. OFE administers fellowships for teachers to attend the Colonial Williamsburg Teacher Institute. During the weeklong institute, teachers are immersed in 18th-century life though hands-on activities and reenactments of historic events. .OFE also co-sponsors Colonial Day at the Capitol for fifth-graders. A day of experiential learning, approximately 500 students all dressed in early American attire fill the halls of the capitol to hear historical characters, participate in a Patriot-Loyalist Debate, perform a Bill-of-Rights Rap, learn colonial activities such as silversmith, archeology, soldiering and more. To promote the creation of colonial activities across the state, OFE hosts a website (www.colonialday.org) with tips on planning colonial day events.

Our Teacher Grants for Professional Development improve teacher performance and boost morale by providing grants to top-quality regional and national workshops, institutes and conferences. Grants help educators cover the costs of tuition, travel, lodging and the expense of hiring substitute teachers. Applications are posted online in October and November.*In 2006, the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence partnered with the national Fund for Teachers and the Tulsa Community Foundation to provide grants of up to $5,000 for individuals and $10,000 for teams of teachers for self-designed, summer professional development opportunities. The Fund for Teachers-Oklahoma program gives educators the creative freedom and opportunity to design unique learning experiences that will enhance their teaching and ultimately bring a world of new ideas to their students. The program has provided more than $3 million in grants to benefit 851 educators. Their journeys have taken them from the plains and forests of Oklahoma and the ecological wonders of Costa Rica to the classical ruins of Rome and the Great Wall of China.

During its 20th anniversary in 2006, the foundation launched the David and Molly Boren Mentoring Initiative to promote the growth and development of quality youth mentoring programs statewide. The initiative grew out of David Boren’s own commitment to mentoring and the proven impact that mentoring can play on a student’s success in and out of the classroom.

Through the mentoring initiative, OFE is working with school districts, businesses, faith groups and mentoring organizations to promote mentoring as a positive step toward academic excellence. The foundation also provides training and networking opportunities for new and established mentoring programs and encourages programs to follow established standards for safe and effective practice. Recently, the foundation expanded its Fall Forum for Local Education Foundations to include sessions for mentoring programs.

OFE has been designated as Oklahoma’s official lead organization for National Mentoring Month by the Harvard Mentoring Project. The foundation also provides an online database of Oklahoma mentoring programs and mentoring information at www.okmentors.org.

The foundation’s flagship event is its Academic Awards Banquet, where the foundation bestows cash awards each year to recognize outstanding public high school seniors as Academic All-Staters and innovative educators as Medal for Excellence winners. Since 1987, the foundation has awarded nearly $3.9 million in merit-based scholarships and awards. The gala banquet, which is broadcast statewide on OETA, has become the state’s most prestigious academic event, celebrating the best and brightest in Oklahoma’s public schools. Academic Awards nomination forms are available at www.ofe.org in late September with deadlines in late November.