The Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence, a statewide charitable organization that recognizes and encourages academic excellence in Oklahoma’s public schools, has announced the addition of 11 new members to its Board of Trustees, including Seminole State College President Lana Reynolds.
Lana Reynolds is the president of Seminole State College and has worked in Oklahoma higher education for over 30 years. She is a graduate of Leadership Oklahoma and serves on its statewide board of directors. She also serves on the boards of Oklahoma Children’s Hospital Foundation and the Oklahoma Academy for State Goals. Among her many civic activities, Reynolds is past president of the Seminole Chamber of Commerce and the Seminole Rotary Club. She is a founding board member and past president of the Jasmine Moran Children’s Museum. Reynolds earned degrees from Oklahoma Christian University and the University of Oklahoma.
Appointed to serve three-year terms are Charlie Chockley, president and owner of Chockley Pumping Inc., Beaver; Dr. Kayse M. Shrum, president of the Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences, Coweta; Gregory Anderson, secretary of education for the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, Eufaula; Dr. Jennifer Dennis, dean of the School of Graduate & Professional Studies at Cameron University, Lawton; Kyle Wray, vice president for enrollment and brand management at Oklahoma State University, Morrison; Jerrod Geiger, attorney at Pierce Couch Hendrickson Baysinger & Green, Norman; Mariano Acuña, attorney at Acuña Law Firm, Oklahoma City; David Postic, attorney at Postic & Bates, Oklahoma City; Lana Reynolds, president of Seminole State College, Seminole; Michelle Nabors, attorney at Harrison & Mecklenburg, Stillwater; and Elizabeth Inbody, executive director of Jenks Public Schools Foundation, Tulsa.
“It is our honor to welcome such exemplary community leaders to our Board of Trustees,” said foundation founder and chairman David L. Boren. “Our foundation and our commitment to quality public education in Oklahoma will be strengthened by their talents and contributions, and we look forward to their partnership with us.”
One of the keys to the foundation’s success is the leadership of its 180 trustees. They are leaders in business, education and public service, who represent every region of the state and help promote the foundation’s mission and its programs.
The Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence was founded in 1985 to strengthen support for public education in Oklahoma. Through its flagship Academic Awards Program, the foundation has presented more than $4.8 million in cash awards to honor outstanding public school students and educators. Through its Oklahoma School Foundations Network, the foundation provides training and networking opportunities to more than 200 public education foundations across the state.
Among its other initiatives, the Foundation for Excellence coordinates a summer fellowship program to send Oklahoma fifth- and eighth-grade teachers to the Colonial Williamsburg Teacher Institute. Through its David and Molly Boren Mentoring Initiative, the foundation promotes quality youth mentoring as a positive step toward academic success.
The foundation partners with the national Fund for Teachers and the Tulsa Community Foundation to provide grants for self-designed summer professional development opportunities for teachers in locations around the world. This fall, it is launching the Teachers of English Learners Pilot Project to support classroom teachers in elementary schools with high enrollment of English Learners.
Since 1987, the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence and its partners have invested more than $12.1 million in teacher grants, scholarships and awards directly benefiting Oklahoma public school teachers and students.