Hurricane Ike and the Teacher of the Year
Hurricane Ike’s waves are still rippling.
Toyota representatives who came to Oklahoma City to present a hybrid Prius to the 2009 Oklahoma Teacher of the Year today weren’t present at the ceremony.
They were with Gulf States Toyota — based in Houston — and had to return home to clean up from Ike, said Tim O’Toole, president and general manager of the Oklahoma State Fair.
O’Toole extended some words of thanks and hope to the representatives and others in the hurricane’s path before stepping aside for the teacher recognition program to continue.
Check out NewsOK.com and tomorrow’s Oklahoman for more about the state’s new Teacher of the Year, math teacher Heather Sparks of Taft Middle School in Oklahoma City.
Wendy Kleinman
Education Reporter
’09 National Merit semifinalists announced
I just wrapped up writing about the 2008 National Merit Scholarship winners in July.
But already, the list of nearly 200 Oklahoma students who are semifinalists in the 2009 National Merit Scholarship Program is out.
The 195 students are among 1,600 nationwide who will go on to compete for $35 million in college scholarships. About half will win, according to the National Merit Scholarship Corporation.
I did a few breakdowns of the list of Oklahoma semifinalists:
143 attend public schools.
42 attend private schools.
9 are homeschooled.
1 goes to a charter school.
Three schools yielded more than 10 semifinalists:
The Oklahoma School of Science and Mathematics, with 22.
Jenks High School, with 14.
Holland Hall School in Tulsa, with 13.
The students qualified by earning the highest scores among state test-takers on the 2007 Preliminary SAT exam.
The list of seniors will be narrowed down to a list of finalists before the scholarship winners are announced in the coming months.
Click here for a list of all the Sooner semifinalists.
Wendy Kleinman
Education Reporter
Do you know an outstanding young educator?
Student contest information often comes my way. But this week, I came across an advertisement in Education Week that gives teachers and administrators a chance to shine.
A middle school social studies teacher in New Jersey was named as the 2008 Outstanding Young Educator. Now, the organization that bestows the title – the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development – is taking nominations for 2009.
The organization will, for the first time, honor not only one teacher but also one administrator. Nominations are due Aug. 1; the nominees must be age 40 or younger.
To nominate someone you know, visit www.ascd.org/oyea. And if you’d like, share your stories here about a great educator — young or young at heart – that has crossed your path.
Wendy K. Kleinman
Education Reporter
Summer science
Ten students recently started an intense, eight-week program at the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation.
The nine Fleming Scholars and one Presidential Scholar are getting hands-on experience with scientific research, conducting experiments and learning from those whose shoes they one day hope to fill.
2008 OMRF FLEMING & PRESIDENTIAL SCHOLARS
Seated, left to right: Sishir Mannava of Edmond; Meaghan Wierzbic of Harrah; Anne Alger of Shawnee; Stephanie Wilburn of Fitzhugh; Sara Moore of Norman; and Leah Henry of Oklahoma City. Standing, left to right: Johnnie West of Lawton; Jack Laurent of Oklahoma City; James Harding of Lancaster, Texas (Presidential Scholar and Langston University student); and Alia Ramirez of Oklahoma City.
Have you participated in the OMRF program or something similar? What was your experience like?
Share your thoughts here on NewsOK’s Education Station.
Wendy K. Kleinman
Education Reporter
A clean bill of health
Four schools recently received awards from the state Department of Education for their excellent financial accounting.
Having seen school district accounting from the inside — uncertain finances at budget time; uncertain actions from the Legislature, Congress and the courts; and a budget process that seems to begin shortly after it ends — I appreciate the complexity of school finance and the need for solid numbers.
The Norman district was so passionate about receiving the award that it worked with state education officials to go over everything it had been marked down on last year.
The result was a stellar score.
The Norman district received the award for the large district category.
Other recipients were:
- Tishomingo Public Schools (Johnston County)
- Mason Public Schools (Okfuskee County)
- Brushy Public School (Sequoyah County)
College-sponsored merit scholars announced
The National Merit Scholarship Corp. has announced more college-sponsored Merit Scholarship winners.
The group joins more than 2,200 others nationwide who were announced in May.
Officials from each sponsor college select winners from among finalists who will attend their institution.
College-sponsored awards provide $500 to $2,000 a year for up to four years of undergraduate study.
This year 194 colleges and universities are sponsoring some 4,600 Merit Scholarship awards. Sponsor colleges are located in 44 states and Washington, D.C., and include 115 private schools and 79 public schools.
This group of winners brings the total number of recipients of Merit Scholarships to approximately 8,200. The college-sponsored awards they receive are worth $34 million.
Over the past 52 years, more than 250,000 students have won awards worth more than $865 million.
To see the latest list of Oklahoma recipients, click here.
Oklahoma students make National Honor Roll
More than 1,000 Central Oklahoma students — 1,570, to be exact — have made the 2006-07 National Honor Roll, the Lynbrook, N.Y-based group announced this week.
The honor roll recognizes high-achieving middle school and high school students.
Honor roll induction can include benefits beyond recognition: Twenty-five inductees will share $25,000, to be awarded in December. Also, the honor roll notifies colleges of students’ induction to the honor roll. A copy of each student’s biography also is sent.
The honor roll contacts potentially qualifying students to submit information about their GPAs, interests, activities and goals. Only students with a “B” average or better are eligible for inclusion on the list. Two-thirds of 2006-07 inductees had an “A-” average or better. Almost one-quarter were seniors.
Obviously there are too many names for us to publish, even on a blog. To see the list, click here.
