We're Here for Oklahoma's Public Schools
Welcome to our quarterly HighMarks for Educators, designed to share news and opportunities specifically of interest to Oklahoma educators. Through our five programs, the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence is dedicated to recognizing and encouraging academic excellence in Oklahoma's public schools. We encourage you to share this newsletter with your colleagues and welcome your questions and comments.
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Nominate an Outstanding Educator for the Oklahoma Medal for Excellence Award |
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The Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence is seeking nominations for its 2022 Academic Awards, including the prestigious Oklahoma Medal for Excellence Awards for public school educators. Nominations are being accepted through an online portal at www.ofe.org.
Educator awards and student scholarships totaling $125,000 will be presented at the foundation’s 36th annual Academic Awards Banquet on May 21, 2022, at the Omni Hotel in Oklahoma City and televised statewide on OETA. The event has been described as the "Academy Awards of public education in Oklahoma."
The foundation is seeking nominations for its $5,000 Oklahoma Medal for Excellence Awards, honoring one outstanding public school educator in each of the following categories: Elementary Teaching, Secondary Teaching, Elementary/Secondary Administration, Regional University/Community College Teaching and Research University Teaching. Medal for Excellence Award nominations must be submitted by 5 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 30.
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Design Your Grant With Fund for Teachers |
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The Fund for Teachers grant program awards fellowships of up to $5,000 for individual teachers and up to $10,000 for teams of teachers for self-designed professional development experiences to take place anywhere in the world during the summer months. The grant cycle application process is now open online and will close January 20, 2022.
Fund for Teachers fellowships are open to Oklahoma pre-K through 12th-grade teachers in public, private, parochial and charter schools. Applicants must have at least three years of teaching experience, be full-time employees and spend 50 percent or more of their time in a classroom setting. In addition, applicants must have the intention of returning to their school and/or district following their summer professional development. School administrators are not eligible for the grants.
Teachers interested in applying are encouraged to participate in a free information webinar. Webinar dates and online registration can be found here.
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Upcoming Events in
Early American History Education
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Mark Your Calendar for Virtual Colonial Days 2022 |
The Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence is teaming up with educational partners at Colonial Williamsburg, Mount Vernon and here in Oklahoma to offer FREE Virtual Colonial Days webinars for Oklahoma fifth-grade classes in 2022.
“Agents of Change: Promoting Civil Discourse and Action” is the theme of the Zoom webinar series, which will focus on the importance of civil discourse and the role it plays in creating positive change in a democracy. The interactive webinars will be held at 10 a.m. Fridays, Jan. 28, Feb. 11, Feb. 25 and March 4, 2022.
Presenters include Stephen Smith as Founding Father Benjamin Franklin; Deidre Cardwell as Agnes, who was enslaved to speaker of the Virginia House of Burgesses Payton Randolph; and Bryan Austin as James Madison, father of the Constitution and fourth president of the United States. An additional presenter from George Washington’s Mount Vernon will be announced soon.
Applications for Virtual Colonial Days open Jan. 3, 2022, at www.ofe.org. Registration is limited.
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Colonial Williamsburg Teacher Institute Applications Open Nov. 1 |
Applications open Nov. 1 for Oklahoma fifth- and eighth-grade teachers interested in attending the 2022 Colonial Williamsburg Teacher Institute next summer in the restored capital city of 18th-century Virginia.
The fifth-grade institute is scheduled June 5-11, and the eighth-grade institute is scheduled June 12-18, 2022. Applications must be submitted by Feb. 1, 2022, through the foundation website at www.ofe.org. Colonial Williamsburg requires teachers to be fully COVID-19 vaccinated to attend.
Teacher Institute fellowships cover all program activities, airfare, lodging and most meals. Each teacher also receives a $300 stipend for classroom materials.
While in Colonial Williamsburg, Oklahoma teachers will have the opportunity to meet character interpreters of 18th-century people and be immersed in early American history through hands-on activities and reenactments of historic events.
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New Grant Opportunity for
K-12 Oklahoma Mentoring Organizations
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The Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence is excited to announce a new funding opportunity for Oklahoma mentoring organizations, the Boren Mentoring Initiative Grants. Up to $15,000 in grant funds will be made available on a first-come, first-served basis for our inaugural year, with the application portal opening Nov. 1. Two categories of grants are available:
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STARTUP GRANTS - Two startup grants of up to $3,000 each will be awarded to new mentoring organizations in their first three years of operation. These grants are designed to encourage communities to start quality mentoring programs.
OPPORTUNITY GRANTS - Six opportunity grants of up to $1,500 each will be available to existing mentoring groups to help fund programming, training, materials or other activities that advance excellence in mentoring for K-12 students in Oklahoma.
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English Learner Platform Available to All Oklahoma Teachers |
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An online professional development platform for Teachers of English Learners created by the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence has completed its pilot phase and is now available to teachers statewide on the Oklahoma State Department of Education Oklahoma EDGE website at https://osdeconnect.ok.gov.
As part of its Teacher Professional Development programs, the foundation created the Teachers of English Learners Pilot Project to address a critical need to build instructional capacity of classroom teachers on behalf of their English Learner students. The project uses a collaborative online learning platform to provide professional development, networking and support for classroom teachers in schools with high enrollment of English Learner students. The platform includes a free English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) Certification Test Prep Course.
Pictured above: Showcasing the Teachers of English Learners platform are (from left) Program Lead Emily Stratton, Virtual Facilitator Coordinator Charlotte Jones, Project Manager Lisa Pryor (seated) and English Learner teachers Marcie Levy and Ellen Kraft, who served as ESL Prep Course content authors and virtual facilitators for the project.
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Recognizing and Encouraging Academic Excellence in Oklahoma's Public Schools
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101 Park Ave. Suite 420, Oklahoma City, OK 73102
(405) 236-0006
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