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Eden Gray of Eufaula and Shelby Russell of Wagoner are among 100 outstanding seniors to be honored when the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence hosts its 36th annual Academic Awards Celebration at 5 p.m. May 21, at the Omni Oklahoma City Hotel.
The gala banquet, which has been described as the “Academy Awards of public education in Oklahoma,” will feature a keynote address by violinist and social justice advocate Vijay Gupta. Gupta is the founder and artistic director of Street Symphony, a nonprofit organization providing musical engagement, dialogue and teaching artistry for homeless and incarcerated communities in Los Angeles. Former Tulsa television news anchor Scott Thompson – an Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence trustee – will serve as the emcee for the evening ceremony honoring "the best of the best" in Oklahoma's public schools.
The event will also feature musical entertainment by the Oklahoma Arts Institute Orchestra. Admission is $65 per person. Reservations can be made online through May 16 at www.ofe.org. The ceremony will be broadcast statewide on OETA public television at 3 p.m. May 28, and at 10 a.m. May 29.
Russell is a class valedictorian and a 2021 American Legion Auxiliary Girls State delegate. She is an academic team member and an Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association Academic Team All-State member. Russell plays varsity tennis and was the Wagoner Rotary Club Student of the Month for October. She is active in Student Council and is parliamentarian and former treasurer for National Honor Society. Russell is a junior high small group leader at Church on the Move. Russell is a junior high small group leader at Church on the Move. She plans to study nutritional sciences at the University of Central Oklahoma as an Oklahoma Regents for Higher Education Baccalaureate Scholar.
Gray is a varsity football player and member of the powerlifting team, as well as a National Technical Honors Society member, Superintendent’s Honor Roll honoree and Eufaula High School Top Ten Senior. He is a state Future Farmers of America degree recipient, serving as show team member and chapter treasurer, parliamentarian and sentinel. Gray is senior class treasurer and active member of Lake Eufaula Christian Church. He plans to attend Oklahoma State University, majoring in biochemistry.
“The Academic Awards Banquet is an inspiring, entertaining and important event celebrating exceptional student leaders and educators in our public schools,” said Banquet Chair Dayna Rowe, an Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence trustee from Yukon and executive director of external affairs for Redlands Community College. “We are excited to be able to host our first full-scale, in-person event in three years and to gather in a beautiful new venue to roll out the red carpet for our honorees. Top it off with an inspiring keynote address by Vijay Gupta, and you have a very memorable evening. I hope everyone will make reservations and plan to join us!”
The Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence is a nonprofit, charitable organization founded in 1985 by then-U.S. Sen. David Boren to recognize and encourage academic excellence in Oklahoma’s public schools. Through its Academic Awards Program, the foundation has awarded more than $5.1 million in merit-based scholarships and cash awards to honor outstanding graduating seniors as Academic All-Staters and exceptional educators as Medal for Excellence winners.
The 2022 Academic All-State class hails from 75 schools in 67 Oklahoma school districts. The honorees were selected from 397 nominations in what is described by Boren as “Oklahoma’s most rigorous academic awards selection process.”
For more information on the Academic Awards Program and this year’s honorees, visit the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence website atwww.ofe.org or call (405) 236-0006.
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