
The Bartlesville Public Schools Foundation’s third annual Teacher of the Year Celebration won’t be the glitzy red-carpet event this year.
But it will still sport its own kind of flair.
“The past two years we’ve hosted the event in the Bartlesville Community Center with a Hollywood red-carpet theme, but this year we wanted to move the event outdoors in an effort to prioritize the health and safety of our teachers and guests,” said Blair Ellis, the foundation’s executive director. “Rigdon Field at Doenges Memorial Stadium was the perfect solution.”
She said the foundation event team ran with the baseball theme and created a special ballpark experience for families to enjoy.
The event will be held from 5:30 to 7 p.m. April 27 at Rigdon Field at Doenges Memorial Stadium. In case of rain, the date will be moved to April 30.
“It’s an opportunity for our community to further engage with our schools — coming out to support some of our best BPS teachers at a free family-fun event,” Ellis said.
In a ceremony during the event, the foundation will announce the Bartlesville Public Schools Teacher of the Year and Rising Star of the Year recipients.
There will be free hot dogs and water as well as stadium snack bags filled with old-fashioned baseball snacks for $5. There will also be an opportunity to donate to vote for the “Fan Favorite” teacher, who will win a Chick-Fil-A breakfast for their entire school.
The foundation started hosting the event in an effort to take some of the responsibility off “already-full teachers’ plates,” Ellis said.
“Our community has been more supportive of the event than we could have imagined,” she said. “The past two years we had over 400 people attend the event.”
Donations will support the foundation’s programs such as the after-school mentoring and running program called Bruins on the Run and funding for the district’s STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) curriculum.
Presenting sponsors are Arvest Bank and Patriot Chevrolet. Others include ConocoPhillips, DSR, Jim Moore State Farm, Ascension St. John Jane Phillips, Bancfirst, Matt Spence State Farm and Chick-fil-A.
For more information, visit the foundation’s Facebook page.