Noble Public Schools Foundation for Academic Excellence:
established in
1999
District Serves
: 2,863 students
Great Idea to Share
: Meet the Candidates Forum
Though school foundations are most often recognized for their financial contributions to a district, there are many other valuable roles foundations can play in supporting schools. Convening important conversations is one such role. Recognizing the need to educate voters in Noble on each candidate and their stand on important issues, the Noble Public Schools Foundation for Academic Excellence hosted a series of
Meet the Candidates Forums
in the months prior to the 2018 elections.
The Foundation put out the following statement:"
Considering the emergency state of educational funding in Oklahoma, we believe that it is imperative for voters to be informed about their candidate choices going into the June primary. In an effort to fill this need, NPSF hosted a "meet the candidates" public forum to provide our community with an opportunity to be introduced to, and personally vet, all political candidates running for office in districts that represent Noble Public Schools. Members of the following communities were invited to join us for this monumental event: Norman, Lexington, Purcell, Wayne, Pauls Valley, Goldsby, and Newcastle."
The foundation hosted three forums, one for the primary election, one for the August runoff election, and one for the final general election. They gathered questions from the community via their website for two weeks prior to each forum. All candidates were invited to participate in the quasi-debate on stage and to set up a table for one to one discussions with constituents following the debate.
Foundation President Erika Wright said, "
The Noble Public Schools Foundation received tremendous positive feedback from our community about the Forum Series that we sponsored. Providing a non partisan venue to help voters better understand candidate views on issues had an incredible outcome of raising voter engagement in our community. The election turnout numbers at local precincts were the highest in history, and many community members engaged in ground campaign work for some of the candidates. Our efforts to educate our neighbors on their candidate selection ultimately resulted in the Noble community having a tremendous influence on the outcomes of all 3 races. As a bonus, we are thrilled to have 3 EXCELLENT legislators representing our school district as a result. Election engagement is important for the entire community, and NPSF is proud to have filled a need for Noble and the surrounding areas!"
