OKLAHOMA CITY — On May 2, the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence will bring together public education champions from around the state to honor Oklahoma’s public school standouts at the Academic Awards Celebration.
This year marks the 40th installment of the event, which is set for 5 p.m. May 2 at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City.
OFE will recognize five outstanding educators as Medal for Excellence recipients, 100 high school seniors as Academic All-State honorees and three Oklahoma public school foundations as winners of the Outstanding Program Awards for School Foundations.
“This is a night to celebrate the greatness being achieved in Oklahoma’s public school classrooms,” said OFE Executive Director Elizabeth Inbody. “Our state’s brightest minds deserve the biggest stage, and it is our honor to recognize their academic achievements.”
The celebration will be broadcast on OETA at 3 p.m. May 9 and 10 a.m. May 10.
One of Oklahoma’s most prestigious teaching awards, the Medal for Excellence recognizes public school educators for their passion and innovation, commitment to professional development and extraordinary impact on student learning. Each recipient receives $5,000 and a “Roots and Wings” sculpture.
The five Medal for Excellence honorees are Amanda Hundley (Elementary Teaching), pre-K and kindergarten teacher at Broken Arrow Public Schools’ Aspen Creek Early Childhood Center; Darcy Pippins (Secondary Teaching), Spanish teacher at Norman High School; Scott Farmer (Elementary/Secondary Administration), superintendent of Fort Gibson Public Schools; Dr. Jennifer Edwards (Regional University/Community College Teaching), sociology professor and chair of the social sciences department at Northeastern State University; and Dr. Randall Kolar (Research University Teaching), professor and director of the University of Oklahoma’s School of Civil Engineering and Environmental Science.
The 40th Academic All-State class will also be recognized. Each honoree receives a $1,500 award, an honor cord and a medal. OFE encourages All-State honorees to invite a teacher who has significantly impacted their academic success to the event, and the educators take the stage alongside their students during the ceremony.
Since the Academic Awards launched in 1987, OFE has honored 4,001 All-Staters. This year’s honorees are from 63 public schools in 58 districts. Three schools are celebrating their first Academic All-Stater: Fox, Grandfield and Tulsa Honor Academy. The 2026 All-State class averaged a 33 on the ACT, with nine honorees scoring a perfect 36.
OFE and its Oklahoma School Foundations Network present the Outstanding Program Awards annually to recognize innovative programs sponsored or administered by public school foundations in Oklahoma. The 2026 award winners are Tiger Tutoring, Fort Gibson Education Foundation; Building Bridges, Moore Public Schools Foundation; and EFM Trivia Challenge, Education Foundation of Muskogee. Each winning foundation receives $2,000.
OFE, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary, 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.
