Like many businesses and organizations over the last two years, the Bristow Education Foundation (BEF) has adapted to the ever-changing landscape brought about by the COVID pandemic. “We knew right away that we would need to make some changes, primarily with fundraising. However, we did not want to suspend any activity or financial support programs for the school,” says Dr. Zeddie Cantrell who has served as the board president for the past several years. Dr. Cantrell says many teachers depend on the grants supported by the BEF to fund programs, supplies and equipment that they use daily in their classroom. Matt Smith, who has served as the board treasurer for multiple years also, stated, “We’ve been fortunate to have great support from the community over the last several years and invested our funds well to financially support the school. Ten years ago, we were only able to provide around $10,000 in grant money for all Bristow sites. The last 3 years, BEF has provided over $30,000 each year and fully fund all grant requests.”
Dr. Cantrell stated that BEF’s main purpose is the teacher grant program as well as managing several local scholarships for graduating seniors. The local scholarship program has grown to over $46,000 per year available to Bristow seniors. Over the past few years BEF’s role has expanded as the school’s needs changed. Assistant Superintendent Krista Burden said, “We had many students during the pandemic in need of rural internet support with limited funding to provide it. BEF stepped in and provided $10,000 to help students in need.” Cantrell went on to say more students are also taking concurrent enrollment through TCC, OSU, and other universities. BEF has worked with the high school counselors to assist students with financial need for tuition costs.
Lastly, BEF partnered with the school to develop an ACT incentive program to help encourage students to excel in their ACT test scores. Through the program, students can receive a monetary incentive for their overall performance on the test and a bonus incentive if they improve on their score when they take the state ACT in their Junior year. In its first year of inception, Bristow scores increased from an average of 17.5 to 19.1 and surpassed the state average of 18.9. Michelle Henderson, who oversees the program at the school, stated “We are so lucky to have a partner in the BEF who is willing to not only support our teachers in the classroom, but also encourage our students to give their best and reward them.”
Smith and Cantrell went on to say that BEF is always open to accept new partners and donors who would like to support Bristow Public Schools. All donations are tax deductible and donors can support our general fund for teacher grants or establish a fund for a recurring scholarship. For more information you can contact Dr. Cantrell at 918-519-7791 or Matt Smith at 918-645-2995. Sarah Pinson, who serves on the board as vice-president, says “BEF’s success is a true testament to the support of our community and partners and the willingness of our volunteers who give up their time for the betterment of Bristow schools.”