Educational fundraising banquet nets more than $180K for Grove students
GROVE, Okla. – The Grove Educational Foundation for Excellence honored Grove instructor Dr. Dave Roberts as this year’s Shining Star recipient during its annual banquet on Saturday at Shangri-La Resort.
The three nominees were Charla Matthews, Upper Elementary principal; Ed Trumbull, middle school teacher and Roberts, the school’s flight instructor.
Grove students soaring to new heights with new aviation equipment
Roberts received a cash award and a trophy.
The foundation awarded 51 grants submitted by educators and chose the top three recipients.
This was Roberts’s first time winning the coveted award.
His grant, Blue Skyes and Redbirds, helped establish additional components to the school’s flight simulator.
“The flight simulator gives students an unbelievably realistic flight experience,” said Kristi Wallace, GEFFE president.
The organization funded Roberts’s $7,194 grant.
The components purchased with grant funds allow students to fly numerous different plane models and practice landing in airports all over the world, she said.
Grove is quickly becoming an aviation hub and the school is essential in this endeavor.
“We chose grants that express creativity which promotes GEFFE’s primary goal of excellence in education,” Wallace said.
Matthews’s grant centered on a mobile kitchen that allows cooking to teach fractions other cultures and life skills.
Trumbull’s grant “The Arts and Crafts of Fishing” taught life skills as students learned to build a custom fishing rod.
Wallace said Saturday’s auction during the GEFFE banquet raised more than $180,000.
Since 1997, the foundation has donated over $1.5 million to Grove schools through its funding of grants and special projects, she said.
The school also announced this year’s Top Scholars at the banquet.
Grove is classified as a 5A school with six campuses with a student population of around 2,500 students, 180 faculty members, and 134 support staff members.
TOP SCHOLARS
Isaiah Bottorff, Valedictorian
Tyler Case, Valedictorian
Elliot Geer, Valedictorian
Paige Allsup, Salutatorian
Claire Bacon, Salutatorian
Jase McAbee, Salutatorian
Emily Thomas, Salutatorian
Jayce Baer
Kelsey Bonham
Peyton Casebourn
Kara Chandler
Abigail Dyer
Gracie Hibbs
Ileen Hull
Brekken Manning
Rebecca Mitchell
Terri Nelson
Kaybree Nixon
Brant Pollan
Savannah Praytor
Estrella Quinn
Chole Richard
Reagan Roberts
Kaybrie Sharp
Nora Sheffield
Jada Williams
Kristian Williams
Alexa Worden
