Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt addressed the OSSM community on August 15 at its annual Convocation, the official start of the 2021-22 school year. Emphasizing leadership and innovation, the Governor encouraged students to follow their dreams and cited his own seemingly far-fetched dream as a college student to become the governor of Oklahoma. His remarks encouraged the students to make this school year their best.

“The 2021 convocation made me proud to be a student attending the Oklahoma School of Science and Mathematics,” said Reynaldo Fuentez, senior at the school. “It was an honor to receive the Governor’s Scholar medallion from Governor Stitt as well as hear his fantastic motivational speech. All this inspires me to make the most of my last year at this one-of-a-kind school.”

Sunday’s ceremony marks the start of the school’s 32nd year.  During the event, the Governor awarded each member of the Class of 2023 with a Governor’s Scholar medallion, which marks the successful completion of their junior year at the state’s leading public STEM high school. The program began in 2017 as an acknowledgement by the state of Oklahoma of each OSSM senior as a full scholarship recipient since tuition, room and board are fully funded by the state. 

Chairman of the OSSM Board of Trustees Dan Little also addressed the audience and applauded the students for making the most of an extremely difficult school year last year due to the pandemic.