Putnam City - Public Schools Foundation

Caroline Gist, Dondra Floresca & Winston Lewis were among the nearly 250 local education foundation board members, community leaders, teachers, and school administrators who recently attended the 19th annual Fall Forum for Local Education Foundations, held October 23 on the University of Oklahoma campus in Norman.  The Fall Forum, sponsored by the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence, provides a one-of-a-kind networking and training opportunity for local education foundation (LEF) volunteers, school administrators and educators from across Oklahoma. 

LEFs are non-profit organizations that raise private funds and bolster community support for local public schools.  These education foundations provide grants for special classroom projects and other programs that are not covered by a school district's budget.  Oklahoma is a national leader in the number of LEFs per capita, with 200 organizations established statewide.

The Fall Forum, co-chaired by our own Caroline Gist of Putnam City Public Schools Foundation and Lou Christian of Blanchard, featured breakout sessions designed to strengthen the day-to-day operations of public school foundations while challenging foundation leaders to "think outside the box" and explore new ways of serving their school districts.  Session topics included board development and recruitment, how to start a public school foundation, creating an effective mentoring program, great fundraising ideas, tax law changes affecting LEFs, choosing donor management software, strategic planning and low-cost marketing techniques.  Participants also heard from representatives from the Oklahoma Afterschool Network, the Payne Education Center, the Oklahoma School Performance Review and DonorsChoose, who discussed ways that LEFs can collaborate with their organizations to better serve students.

 Glen Johnson Jr., chancellor for the State Regents for Higher Education, delivered the Fall Forum's keynote address, speaking on the challenges facing public education in Oklahoma and the need for all levels of education to be accountable.  The event culminated with the presentation of the 2007 Outstanding Program Awards for Local Education Foundations.  Programs receiving plaques and monetary awards of $1,000 each were the Century Club Campaign sponsored by the Bixby Educational Endowment Foundation; the Principal for a Day Program sponsored by the Edmond Public Schools Foundation and the Academic Quest/Leadership Training Program sponsored by the Poteau Schools Education Foundation.

See a photo from the Fall Forum in our Photo Gallery section.

  For more information about the Putnam City Public Schools Foundation, please contact Dondra Floresca at 405-495-5200 ext. 1205.

The Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence is a non-profit, charitable organization created in 1985 to recognize and encourage academic excellence in Oklahoma's public schools.  Among its programs, it provides technical support and assistance to local education foundations across the state, sponsoring the annual Fall Forum for Local Education Foundations.  For more information about the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence, call 405-236-0006 or visit the foundation web site at www.ofe.org.