At a ceremony this week, the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation celebrated the long line of Stillwater High students who have been selected as Sir Alexander Fleming Scholars at OMRF.
Each year, for its Fleming Scholar program, OMRF selects a handful of the state’s top science students to spend the summer in its labs working aside foundation researchers. Since the program’s inception in 1956, more than 20 Stillwater students have earned this distinction.
On Monday, representatives of OMRF and Stillwater High dedicated a plaque at the high school commemorating each Stillwater student who’s been chosen for the honor.
“This is a testament to the incredible relationship these two entities have had all these years,” said Brett Jameson, M.D., a Stillwater physician and OMRF Board member. “We hope it also will inspire future Fleming Scholars from Stillwater to apply.”
Assistant Principal Carl Treat, who served as a Fleming Scholar shortly after his graduation from Stratford High School in 1989, told students about his summer experience at OMRF. “Even though I didn’t become a scientist, I’ve gotten great joy from pushing science on kids all these years,” he said.
In addition to its track record of sending Fleming Scholars to OMRF, Stillwater High School has been an instrumental partner in the foundation’s cancer research.
In 2011, students designated OMRF as the beneficiary of their annual “Pink Out Week” fundraising efforts. Since then, students, teachers and staff have raised nearly $130,000 for cancer studies in OMRF labs.
“Pink Out Week” is overseen by family and consumer sciences teacher Jody Webber. She noted that one student who led the school’s “Pink Out Week” efforts later served as an OMRF Fleming Scholar.
Speaking to students at the dedication, Webber asked, “Who could it be next? Could it be you? If so, we want to make that connection today.”
