This week Oklahoma celebrated the Teacher of the Year. We needed this celebration and the reminder that Oklahoma has thousands of great teachers who have our children’s best interests at heart. I was privileged, on behalf of OCPA, to participate in this celebration of excellence.

It seems like nearly every day we see another story about a teacher abusing his or her position to corrupt our kids. And sadly, so many of them are right here in Oklahoma. But by and large, these are isolated incidents. 

At this week’s celebration, we heard many stories of how a teacher changed a child’s life. These stories were told by teachers about their own teachers who had believed in them, encouraged them, and challenged them. Teachers who helped them see something in themselves that they did not know was there.

Selecting the teacher of the year begins with each school selecting a teacher of the year. From that list, each school district picks a teacher of the year. From the district honorees, the Oklahoma Department of Education identifies 10 finalists for the Oklahoma Teacher of the Year. An ad hoc committee selects a winner. The Oklahoma Teacher of the Year competes for National Teacher of the Year. 

The Oklahoma Department of Education asked me, as Dean of the J. Rufus Fears Fellowship program, to serve on the selection committee. As a committee, we reviewed each finalist’s application portfolio, interviewed them, and watched them make a brief presentation. 

These are all truly outstanding teachers. Most were mentors to other teachers in their district. One wrote and published a curriculum other teachers around the state are using. All had a heart for children.

OCPA knows that the concept of merit is what has made America flourish. Our society was founded on the ideal of rewarding those who are innovative and those who work hard. Those rewards create the incentives that propel us forward, ahead of all others.

To recognize these outstanding teachers, OCPA provided a $1,000 scholarship to a high school senior in each finalist’s district. The student in the Teacher of the Year’s district received a $5,000 scholarship. This $14,000 gift was our way of recognizing merit and rewarding excellence. These 10 teachers and 10 students were very deserving.

Inspiring and Innovating

Oklahoma’s Teacher of the Year was announced at the InspireOK conference, an annual event for educators organized by the Oklahoma Department of Education for the purpose of “collaborative learning, sharing insights, and crafting transformative teaching practices tailored for Oklahoma schools.”

This year’s keynote speaker was Tulsa Public Schools superintendent Ebony Johnson. OCPA had a booth at the conference highlighting our J. Rufus Fears Fellowship program. Several teachers took information to share with their high school seniors or their young teacher colleagues. Being teachers themselves, they seemed particularly impressed that the program was based on Dr. Fears' history lectures and that 12 Oklahoma colleges offer students course credit for completing the fellowship. 

The conference included breakout sessions. OCPA offered a breakout session on how the Oklahoma Legislature negotiates the state budget. The response from the participating teachers was very positive. Most said it opened their eyes to how many state agencies receive tax money and how difficult it is to balance the numerous state priorities.

Other breakout sessions were led by a frequent presenter at our Fears Fellowship seminars. Andrew Berrigan is the president of Enterprising Play. He uses Legos to engage children and adults in learning experiences. In his sessions, he showed teachers how to use these techniques in the classroom.

Conference attendees were not aware that the InspireOK conference was organized and planned by Fears Fellows. Of the 330 young professionals who have completed the J. Rufus Fears Fellowship, more than 40 are working in government and policy. Several of them work for State Superintendent Ryan Walters.  

Attendees were surrounded by Fears Fellows from the time they arrived at the conference until the awards dinner ended. We had a booth. We conducted a breakout session. One of our presenters held several breakout sessions. We were at the podium presenting scholarships (photo above). Our fellows were key organizers of the conference. 

OCPA is proud of the outstanding public school teachers in Oklahoma. We are always pleased to recognize excellence. Rewarding excellence makes Oklahoma flourish.