(OKLAHOMA CITY – Feb. 15) The Oklahoma Supreme Court recognized Edmond Santa Fe High School AP Government teacher, K.C. Williams, as Teacher of the Year and Marlow High School as School of the Year at an awards ceremony Monday, Feb. 25 in the Supreme Court Courtroom at the State Capitol building.

“I believe we have the finest LRE program in America.  As a result, we have outstanding schools and teachers who compete each year for the awards we present.  Accordingly, we honor the best of the best,” said Chief Justice James R. Winchester.

As the Teacher of the Year, Williams received a $1,000 stipend and a trophy for his excellence in teaching citizenship skills.

Williams is involved in the “Speak-Out Program”, among many other programs, which visits his classroom each semester to give a strong message about the importance of choices in life.  Williams “encourages students to be a valuable resource in the community by introducing the students to male inmates to teach the students the consequences of their actions.”   The students recently completed a letter writing campaign through the “Speak-Out Program” to Governor Henry and the pardon and parole board in hope of getting an inmate released. 

“The ultimate goal is for the student to realize that being actively involved in the community and society benefits all.  Hopefully, the students realize that learning goes beyond the pages of a book,” said Williams.

Williams was nominated by many of his peers, including Kathleen Duncan, who is a member of the Edmond Public School Board and former teacher whose daughter attended Williams’ class.

“By interjecting humor and human interest stories in his lesson plans, he literally brought history and civics to life every day for these teenagers,” she said.  “After class was over many times the students were so involved in solving the problem that they did not want to go to their next class.”

In her nomination form, Edmond Public School Social Studies Curriculum Consultant Pamela Merrill said she was confident Williams is one of the finest representatives of classroom teachers.

As School of the Year, Marlow High School received a $1,000 stipend and trophy recognizing the school and students for their achievement.

Marlow High School has seven programs that are based on the philosophy that “you feel good about yourself when you do positive actions.”  These programs are geared toward achieving the Marlow High School vision, “Building Better Futures.” 

The NETS program (Neurodysfunction Eye Test System) was implemented to recognize students with vision problems and refer them to a physician.  Other programs include the Marlow Mediators, Outlaw Ambition, Outlaw Vision Team, Abstinence Education, Teacher Assistance Program (TAP), and Random Act of Kindness (RAK). 

The Marlow Mediators program uses the peaceful resolution for Oklahoma students (PROS) model.  This model encourages students to cope with conflict in a “socially accepted manner.”  The main goal is to help students become “rational, functional, productive citizens.” 

“Our peer mediators are trained to find workable solutions to non-violent confrontations among students.  This program is designed to teach students positive ways to deal with conflict and avoid future problems.  Building citizen virtue is a primary concern of this group,” said Linda Hutson, social studies instructor at Marlow High School.

“Marlow High School has a rich history of creating opportunities for students to develop as citizens while they pursue high academic standards.  Achievement in academics, speech/drama, music, and athletics are evident in the trophy cases around the school campus, but the trophies of an outstanding program of civic development are the students themselves,” said Mickey Hoy, Marlow business owner and citizen.