District honors teachers for LETRS training, national athletics recognition and financial‑literacy award
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Summary
Broken Arrow Public Schools recognized 88 teachers who completed LETRS units, celebrated a national NI AAA quality program award for athletics, and honored a teacher who received a national personal finance education award.
At the Jan. 13 meeting the Broken Arrow Public Schools Board of Education recognized multiple staff achievements and discussed curriculum developments.
Miss Hennis presented the district’s LETRS (Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling) recognition, saying LETRS is an eight‑unit program offered by the state and that 88 district teachers have completed the training. She said cohorts 1 and 2 were being recognized that evening and that some district participants received stipends from both the district and the State Department. Miss Hennis also noted that the state has expanded eligibility to include some middle‑school teachers and that cohort members have two years to complete the program.
Doctor Dustin Smith, executive director of athletics, told the board the district earned a National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (NIAAA) Quality Program Award. He said the recognition places the district among roughly 90 awardees out of more than 19,500 schools represented by the association and that the award is based on documented policies, academic procedures and program practices rather than on scoreboard results. Smith credited district leadership and Amanda Snyder’s work assembling detailed documentation.
From the high‑school classroom, principal Ms. Barber and teacher Scott Milner discussed personal financial literacy. Barber said the district requires personal financial literacy for graduation and moved that requirement to the senior year to increase relevance. Milner, who received the H. Randy Lively Jr. Pioneer Award for financial‑literacy instruction, said his curriculum addresses modern finance interactions students commonly encounter—mobile payments, investing and the risks of online gambling—and that he emphasizes warnings about addiction and predatory products. Milner said his long‑term goal is to expand face‑to‑face finance course offerings so more students can access the requirement through a traditional class.
Why this matters: The LETRS training reflects district investment in evidence‑based reading instruction; the NIAAA award signals district‑level strength in athletics administration; and the personal financial literacy recognition ties directly to a state graduation requirement and local curriculum planning.
The board offered public congratulations to the recognized teachers and administrators.