OKLAHOMA CITY — The Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence will honor five public school educators with the 2026 Oklahoma Medal for Excellence.
The Medal for Excellence recipients are:
- Elementary Teaching: Amanda Hundley, pre-K and kindergarten teacher at Broken Arrow Public Schools’ Aspen Creek Early Childhood Center
- Secondary Teaching: Darcy Pippins, Spanish teacher at Norman High School
- Elementary/Secondary Administration: Scott Farmer, superintendent of Fort Gibson Public Schools
- Regional University/Community College Teaching: Jennifer Edwards, sociology professor and chair of the social sciences department at Northeastern State University
- Research University Teaching: Randall Kolar, professor and director of the University of Oklahoma’s School of Civil Engineering and Environmental Science
One of Oklahoma’s most prestigious teaching honors, the Medal for Excellence recognizes public school educators for their passion and innovation, commitment to professional development and extraordinary impact on student learning.
“Public education is a force for progress in Oklahoma, and it all starts with incredible teachers,” said OFE Executive Director Elizabeth Inbody. “These five educators represent what’s right in Oklahoma’s public schools, and their work is vital to our state’s future. We hope that by celebrating them, we will inspire others to join us as champions of public education.”
An independent selection committee chooses the award recipients through a rigorous, multi-round process. The group includes past honorees along with business, education and civic leaders.
OFE will honor the Medal for Excellence recipients at the 40th annual Academic Awards Celebration on May 2 at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City. Each recipient receives a $5,000 prize, a medallion and an etched glass “Roots and Wings” sculpture.
The event, which is open to the public, will also honor 100 public school seniors as Academic All-Staters and three public school foundations as Outstanding Program Award winners. More information about the event is available at OFE.org.
Founded in 1985, OFE is a statewide, nonpartisan nonprofit that recognizes and encourages academic excellence in Oklahoma’s public schools. The foundation elevates public education through esteemed honors, grants to K-12 mentoring programs, support for public school foundations and partnerships that provide exceptional professional development to educators.
More Information About the Medal for Excellence Recipients
Amanda Hundley, Broken Arrow Public Schools
For Amanda Hundley, relationships are the foundation of a successful classroom.
Hundley, the 2026 recipient of the Medal for Excellence in Elementary Teaching, teaches a pre-K and kindergarten multiage class at Broken Arrow Public Schools’ Aspen Creek Early Childhood Center.
Hundley’s classes include 10 students in each grade, and she pairs every pre-K student up with a kindergarten mentor.
“I see the power of mentorships in action every day,” Hundley said. “My classroom is built around the philosophy that students learn best from and with one another.”
Throughout the year, her older students grow as leaders, and pre-K students gain independence and a sense of belonging.
“The kindergarteners feel empowered as teachers, mentors and readers, while the pre-K students are inspired by their peers’ success,” Hundley said. “Each year, I watch the cycle continue — those who once looked up to a buddy become mentors themselves, perpetuating a culture of confidence, kindness and curiosity.”
Hundley pairs routines that keep students feeling safe and connected with teaching units that encourage them to get messy and make mistakes.
One favorite of Hundley and her classes is a building unit centered around “The Three Little Pigs.” Students design and build homes for the little pigs, then evaluate how they stand up to the wolf’s huffing and puffing — exercising their creativity while learning about persistence and scientific thinking.
Her Around the World unit lets Hundley’s students travel the globe without leaving the classroom. They use their imaginations to fly to each continent, then learn about different countries by singing songs, tasting foods and creating art inspired by landmarks.
Sydney Wilson said the experience felt magical for her two sons.
“From the moment my children stepped into her classroom, I could tell that Amanda had created something rare and wonderful,” Wilson said. “Her classroom is a place where learning feels alive. It is filled with color, laughter and curiosity that you can feel the moment you walk through the door.”
Hundley, who grew up in Broken Arrow, earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Oklahoma State University. She was District Teacher of the Year for 2025-26 and Site Teacher of the Year for 2024-25. She previously taught at Duncan and Guthrie public schools.
“Amanda brings out the best in her students and reminds everyone around her, parents and colleagues alike, why great teachers matter so deeply,” Wilson said.
Darcy Pippins, Norman Public Schools
Darcy Pippins is in her 28th year of teaching Spanish at Norman High School.
But Pippins does more than just teach. She inspires others to do the same.
“I cannot tell you the number of teachers I have encountered who have pointed to Darcy Pippins as a primary influence in their decision to become a teacher,” said Dominie Dew, an instructional coach at Norman High School whose two daughters took Pippins’ classes.
Pippins, who is also the chair of the school’s world languages department, is the recipient of the 2026 Medal for Excellence in Secondary Teaching.
In 2014, Pippins had the idea to start an elementary Spanish program after teaching her daughter’s Spanish class once a week. She got her advanced Spanish students involved, and the program expanded rapidly. This year, 61 high school students volunteered, allowing the program to reach 27 fourth and fifth grade classrooms across six elementary schools. Pippins works with student teachers to plan lessons, and each week, they teach for 30 minutes. In 2016, the program won the Global Engagement Initiative Award from the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages.
Many student teachers have gone on to become educators. One of Pippins’ first program participants is now a world languages teacher who was Norman Public Schools’ first district teacher of the year finalist.
In her own classroom, Pippins works hard to provide the personalized communication her students need to grow. She uses a variety of reading strategies along with techniques like MovieTalk, where she plays video clips and then asks questions in Spanish.
“I learned that by keeping activities novel in class, students are more engaged and stress-free, which facilitates language acquisition,” Pippins said.
Pippins presents at language conferences across the country, and in 2025, she hosted an international language conference that drew attendees from 30 states and five countries to Norman High School. She is a former president of the Oklahoma Foreign Language Teachers’ Association.
Pippins, who is a Norman High School graduate, holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Oklahoma and is a National Board Certified Teacher.
She has been named World Language Teacher of the Year for the state and southwest region and is a past finalist for National World Language Teacher of the Year.
“She has opened a door of opportunity for both of my daughters to communicate in another language and fall in love with another culture,” Dew said.
Scott Farmer, Fort Gibson Public Schools
Scott Farmer believes in a community-driven approach to education.
“The strength of our district lies in the collective work of our people,” said Farmer, the superintendent of Fort Gibson Public Schools. “Teamwork in education is not just about accomplishing goals. It is about creating an environment where children flourish because an entire community believes in their potential.”
Farmer is the 2026 recipient of the Medal for Excellence in Elementary/Secondary Administration.
Farmer seeks out partnerships that offer not just financial support but also valuable experiences for students. Area businesses provide internships, and banks teach financial literacy classes.
During his tenure, the district has created a new STEM and Robotics Center and established a staff daycare center that has improved recruitment and retention.
Fort Gibson was one of just 12 Oklahoma schools that received a federal Stronger Connections Grant to enhance safety programming, allowing the district to implement a system that focuses on proactive strategies for students struggling with adverse behaviors.
“Whether navigating complex policy, making budgetary decisions or meeting with teachers, his focus never wavers from the students,” said Taylor Deatherage, who teaches algebra and coaches at Fort Gibson. “He truly understands that when teachers are supported, students thrive — a philosophy that radiates through our entire district.”
Farmer’s efforts have led to record-high ACT scores and the National Blue Ribbon School Distinction.
“Every day, in classrooms across our district, remarkable things are happening,” Farmer said. “These successes are the product of great people and strong partnerships.”
Farmer, who is a Coweta native and a Cherokee Nation citizen, who comes from a family of educators. He says seeing his daughter grow up to study education is one of his proudest achievements.
He began his career teaching math in Sallisaw Public Schools and served in various roles before taking over as superintendent in 2011. In 2018, he made the move to Fort Gibson.
Farmer is a three-time Oklahoma Association of School Administrators District Superintendent of the Year and was named the Oklahoma Schools Advisory Council’s Outstanding Administrator in Oklahoma in 2019. He has served in leadership roles with OASA and OSAC, including terms as president of both organizations.
He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Northeastern State University and is working toward a Doctor of Education in Rural Education from East Central University in Ada. He is also an adjunct professor at Southern Nazarene University.
Dr. Jennifer Edwards, Northeastern State University
To her students, Dr. Jennifer Edwards is more than just a professor. She’s a mentor.
Edwards, a professor of sociology and chair of the social sciences department at Northeastern State University, is the 2026 recipient of the Medal for Excellence in Regional University/Community College Teaching.
Dr. Jamie Suzanne Farmer, a history professor at NSU, called Edwards “one of the finest teachers I have ever known.”
“What strikes me most about Dr. Edwards’ teaching is the way she treats her students,” Farmer said. “Whether they are undergraduates just starting or graduate students preparing for their careers, she approaches them all as future colleagues. I’ve watched her sit with students for hours, discussing not just their coursework but also their goals, fears and plans.”
Edwards coordinates NSU’s sociology major and its women’s and gender studies minor program. She’s advised and mentored hundreds of undergraduate and graduate students and is a peer mentor for junior faculty.
In the classroom, she sets high standards and strives to create immersive, experiential assignments. She developed the Sociological Research Symposium at NSU to help students gain experience presenting research, and she created a virtual field trip so that they can conduct in-depth analysis of a city without traveling there.
“To engage in active learning, I believe it’s my responsibility to create a classroom setting that allows students to engage in the course material,” Edwards said.
Edwards, who’s taught at NSU since 2003, has received the university’s Model the Way Award and Circle of Excellence Award in Teaching, and she’s twice been chosen for the student-nominated Top Ten Riverhawk Award. In 2020, the Midwest Sociological Society honored her with the Jane Addams Outstanding Service Award.
Edwards was the inaugural director of NSU’s Center for Women’s Studies, a role she held for three years. From 2019 to 2022, she served as program chair of the university’s master’s degree in criminal justice. She previously taught at Southwestern Oklahoma State University and MiraCosta College in Oceanside, California.
A California native, Edwards holds a bachelor’s in sociology from California State University, Stanislaus; a master’s in criminology from California State University, Fresno; and a doctorate in sociology from Oklahoma State University.
Edwards maintains an active research agenda that focuses on how groups utilize social rituals to retain or attempt to gain power.
“Dr. Edwards brings her own research into the classroom in ways that make sociology come alive for students,” Farmer said. “Her work on the Orange Order in Northern Ireland, on social rituals and power, and on intergroup conflict allows her to demonstrate to students how sociological theory helps us understand real conflicts, people and communities.”
Dr. Randall Kolar, University of Oklahoma
In the late 1990s, Dr. Randall Kolar had the bold idea of using an integrated approach to unify the civil engineering curriculum.
Kolar, a professor at the University of Oklahoma’s School of Civil Engineering and Environmental Science, proposed tying core courses together through a common design project: Sooner City.
The professor, who is the 2026 recipient of the Medal for Excellence in Research University Teaching, imagined a curriculum in which freshman civil engineering students would be provided a virtual piece of land and given the ongoing task of designing the infrastructure of this Sooner City, such as its water supply and transportation systems. In subsequent CEES classes, professors would incorporate subcomponents of Sooner City’s infrastructure into class projects. This would give students early exposure to civil engineering design problems and link courses by building on previous work. As they progressed through the program, they progressed on infrastructure design of their Sooner City.
“This was such a revolutionary idea at the time and provided a rich learning experience to OU students that was not available at any other civil engineering program,” said Dr. Kanthasamy Muraleetharan, a colleague of Kolar.
Kolar became director of the CEES in 2013 but continues to teach classes. He focuses on using real-world design projects and providing context for his students, as with the Sooner City framework.
“Design problems are such effective tools to teach critical thinking because students must wrangle with problems that don’t have one ‘best’ solution or for which they may have incomplete information,” Kolar said.
Kolar believes strongly in active learning.
“It is rare to find him lecturing at the chalkboard to a silent, note-taking class,” said Dr. Joel Casey Dietrich, a former student who is now a professor at North Carolina State University. “Instead, he prefers students to learn by doing. He uses an active classroom, where students engage the material by working in teams or by asking questions of him.”
Kolar, who grew up in Twin Falls, Idaho, holds bachelor’s degrees in civil engineering and mathematics from the University of Idaho and a doctorate in civil engineering from the University of Notre Dame. Before arriving at OU, he was an assistant professor at the University of New Haven. He has received the National Science Foundation CAREER Award, along with a host of honors from OU, including the David Ross Boyd Professorship, the Lloyd and Joyce Austin Presidential Professorship and the OU Alumni Teaching Award.
