Awards Across the Board
The board room was filled up with awaiting parents
The Norman Board of Education met Monday, Jan. 14, at the Administrative Services Center to honor fellow board members and students and teachers in the district, including several Norman North student-athletes.
In honor of the more than 2,700 school board members, Oklahoma has designated January as School Board Recognition Month. Because of this, superintendent Nick Migliorino gave every board member an award to thank them for their service. Here is the official statement from Norman Public Schools:
The board meeting was surprisingly full as parents waited to see their students recognized for their athletic accomplishments.
“In salute and gratitude to the more than 2,700 Oklahoma school board members, January is designated as School Board Recognition Month. This is an opportunity to build community awareness and understanding about the crucial role an elected Board member assumes in a representative democracy. Their commitment to service and public education affects the present and future lives of our children and our communities. This is a time for us to say thank you.”
After this short bit of gratitude toward the district’s administration, Dr. Migliorino moved on to honoring individual students and student-athletes in the district, specifically in Norman North and Norman High.
The first honorees were students from Norman’s Dimensions Academy, who were receiving the Generation Citizen’s Civics Day award from social studies coordinator Jane Purcell. This was because of “work and presentation of the student’s action project ‘ending homelessness in Norman, OK.'”
Indian education coordinator Lucyanne Harjo presented the second round of awards to the 2018 Chickasaw Nation Challenge Bowl winners. Three winners were from Norman High, while Anna Christian, a student at Norman North, was the fourth winner. Harjo also gave awards to the first place winners of the “Study of the 39 Tribes” event. All four winners were from Norman North. Harjo also introduced the five middle school winners for the event who were all from Irving Middle School.
Athletic awards followed, which were given by the district athletic director T.D. O’Hara. Several high school students were chosen for all-state teams, with three players from Norman North. Abby Porter from cheer, Cole Mashburn from football, and Maci Milligan from Volleyball were all given awards of excellence for their hard work and dedication to their sport. Mashburn was not there, but Porter and Milligan got their picture taken with their award next to O’Hara and received applause from the rest of the audience. O’Hara also honored the cheer team for being the OSSAA Class 6A State Runner-up, as well as the pom team for being the OSTDA Class 6A Team State Runner-up in the mix category. The 9th-grade pom team also received an award for being the OSTDA 9th Grade Team State Champions in the jazz category. O’Hara also recognized the Norman High honorees, who had four all-state players and one cross country individual state champion.
Norman North Pom receives an athletic award for being Class 6A runners-up.
The last two awards of the night were given to teachers who had embraced technology to better educate their students. This section was directed by the director of media services Kathryn Lewis. The recipient was Martha Pangburn, the Norman High School librarian, who was receiving the Oklahoma School Librarians Technology in Education Award. According to the district, “the award honors an Oklahoma school librarian who integrates technology as a vital component teaching in the twenty-first century.”
The last award was to Kent Nicholson, a Dimensions Academy teacher and the NPS swim coach. Lewis was giving this award as well, which was the Oklahoma Technology Association 2018 Teacher of the Year award. The district gives this award “to a teacher from an OTA member district who exhibits exemplary integration of technology in the classroom teaching and learning process.”
NPS swim coach Kent Nicholson being awarded OTA 2018 Teacher of the Year.
The award section of the board meeting was over after about 45 minutes as the audience slowly filed out to go home. The rest of the meeting was set to talk about the financial state of the district as well as fundraising reports from each school, of which no parent stayed behind to attend.
Overall, the board meeting was a success, according to Norman North principal Peter Liesenfeld, expressing his appreciation for the board of education in an interview after the meeting.
Dr. Liesenfeld talking to attendees next to Norman High Principle Dr. Scott Beck.
“What I love is the ability for the board of education from Norman Public Schools to recognize the successes that are going in the schools,” Dr. Liesenfeld said. “Not just at Norman North, but at any school.”
Continued coverage of district activity will follow leading up to the Feb. 12 election to pass or veto the 6-year municipal bond drafted by NPS administration.
