Vinita student and Jay educator honored classroom excellence

OKLAHOMA CITY — Jay educator Jennifer Goldner and Vinita senior Brooklyn Lierle will be honored at the 38 ^th annual Academic Awards Celebration.

Sponsored by the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence, the ceremony is set for 5 p.m. on May 4 at the Embassy Suites Hotel and Conference Center in Norman.

“This event showcases the incredible impact of Oklahoma’s public schools and the dedicated people who work to make them exceptional,” said Elizabeth Inbody, executive director. “The Academic Awards Celebration is an inspiring, unforgettable event, and we encourage everyone to attend.”

The ceremony will honor five educators as Medal for Excellence recipients, 100 public school seniors as Academic All-State honorees and three Oklahoma public school foundations as winners of the Outstanding Program Awards.

Lierle is one of 100 high school seniors selected to this year’s Academic All-State class.  She will receive a $1,500 award, a medallion and an honor cord. Goldner will be honored with the Medal for Excellence. She will receive $5,000 and an etched glass “Roots and Wings” sculpture.

Brooklyn Lierle

Lierle is a National Merit finalist, Vinita class valedictorian and a 2023 Oklahoma Girls State Delegate. She serves as president of the Student Council and Vinita FFA along with being secretary of the school’s National Honors Society chapter and academic bowl team captain. She serves her community through church programs and nonprofits like the Neighbors Helping Neighbors Food Bank. Lierle plans to study political science and pre-law at the University of Tulsa.

Jennifer Goldner

Goldner, a fifth-grade science teacher at Jay Upper Elementary School has taught in the Jay School District since 1998.

Goldner attended the Honeywell Educators at Space Academy and Advanced Space Academy, and she studied aboard the Oregon II as a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Teacher at Sea. From 2014 to 2017, Goldner gave presentations across the country as the United States Honeywell Space Academy Ambassador. She’s now a consultant for the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation in support of the Teacher at Sea Program.

Goldner has trained teachers in Ecuador and Belize, and she’s instructed educators in the Great Expectations professional development program for more than 20 years.

Other Medal for Excellence winners include:

• Jill Andrews, Claremore High School English language arts teacher
• Kevin Hime, Lawton Public Schools superintendent
• Dr. Sapna Das-Bradoo, Northeastern State University Broken Arrow biology professor and interim chair of the Department of Natural Sciences
• Dr. Greg Burge, University of Oklahoma economics professor and department chair.

The Outstanding Program Awards winners are  Edmond Public Schools Foundation for its Student Ambassador Program, the Cheyenne Education Foundation for its Honors Night, and the Foundation for Tulsa Schools for its support of the Healthy Thriving Schools Initiative.. Each program receives a plaque and a monetary award of $1,000.

The event will be broadcast on OETA at 3 p.m. May 18 and 10 a.m. May 19.

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