Oklahoma Education Briefs and Commentary, May 2019


(Editor’s Note: This is compiled from multiple sources, including The Oklahoman)

Great schools leaving the MidCity area … 
The City Sentinel is reeling as two successful public charter schools are forced to leave the heart of the community for new locations. This newspaper and the two Harding-site schools have long labored cooperatively on behalf of better tax-financed schools and individual excellence. 
Harding Charter Prep supporters, students and friends will celebrate a “last hurrah” at the North Shartel Avenue location on Friday, May 3. 
In related news, the Harding alumni association will honor Nora Miller with a scholarship honoring the 1962 graduate from Argentina. The new scholarship will go to a Harding Charter Prep senior at this month’s graduation ceremony. 
At last report, the stellar students and staff at Harding Fine Arts Academy were seeking new digs. With outstanding leadership, top students and dedicated supporters, we know they will succeed.
The two Harding Schools had to vacate their location when the Oklahoma City Public School Board earlier this year ordered Harding Charter Prep to relocate to the Centennial High School facility on N. Kelley and N.E. 101 Street in Oklahoma City. Although Harding Fine Arts has challenged the edict, driven by a board decision to sell the Shartel property, leaders are looking for new possibilities.

On Sunday, May 5, the Jewish Federation of Greater Oklahoma City will host the annual Yom Ha’Shoah (Holocaust Remembrance) ceremony with the help of Bishop McGuinness Catholic High School. Featured speaker will be Abraham Foxman, director emeritus of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). He will share his story of surviving the Nazi era with the help of a Catholic nursemaid in Poland. The event is free but pre-registration is requested: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/yom-hashoah-testimony-of-a-hidden-child-tickets-56643160217 

Putnam City High School captured the Class I title at the Southwestern Oklahoma State University Interscholastic Meet in March. The 106th competition took place on the university’s Weatherford campus. Working their way to the championship, PC students took top honors in the business and computer science divisions … Other metro area schools with strong showings included Yukon and Washington High Schools. …

Westmoore High School teacher Billy Elles has won the Diamond Award for excellence and longevity from the National Speech & Debate Association … 

Eastern Oklahoma County Technology Center high students Lyric Morris, Olivia Brown, Jason Underwood, Joey Mitchell, Riley Bryant, Hunter Reed and Sara Padilla won honors – including cash prizes – in the “Keep Oklahoma Beautiful” contest sponsored by the Oklahoma Department of Transportation. In the college division,  Wyatt Harris and Davis Ramer garnered praise. Each of the students were involved in production of a video aiming to encourage anti-litter efforts. … 


Last month, Middle and High School students at Oklahoma City’s Dove Science Academy celebrated opening of a new aviation lab, including flight simulators. The Oklahoma Aeronautics Commission $19,000 to support the lab development at the school, which puts an emphasis on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education.  

The Oklahoman reported the past month’s Heritage Hall achievers included Mary Kate Magness and Turner Watkins, awarded “a two-week study abroad  were selected by the Alliance Française d’Oklahoma City for a two-week study abroad opportunity in France.” Other Heritage students getting honors were seniors Alina Wilson (Coca-Cola Scholar) and Emily Pearson (Oklahoma City Community Foundation scholar), and junior Sukanya Bhattacharya (Carson Scholar). Graduating seniors Alina Wilson and Jacob F. Livesay have been designated National Merit Scholars.

Edmond North High School’s Kelly Lewis is another local National Merit designee. … 

Among the 2019 inductees to the Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame was Chris Casteel of The Oklahoman. The award-winning reporter who has covered state politics for decades first studied journalism at Oklahoma City’s John Marshall High School.  

A Tulsa technician who works with home-school students is the focus of a fascinating story from the Blythe Institute, posted at David Arnett’s Tulsa Today website. Software developer Jonathan Bartlett found and dissected a flaw in the way in which second derivatives are presented in Calculus textbooks. You have to read it to believe it, but his work is impacting the thinking of mathematicians around the world. 
He is the author, with Asatur Khurshudyan, of a scholarly paper, “Extending the Algebraic Manipulability of Differentials,” in the journal “Dynamics of Continuous, Discrete and Impulsive Systems, Series A: Mathematical Analysis.” 
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