Booker T. Washington Foundation for Excellence

Established in 1993, the Booker T. Washington Foundation for Excellence is an independent 501(c)(3) organization whose mission is to enhance all aspects of academic endeavors for the students, faculty and administration at Booker T. Washington High School in Tulsa, Oklahoma.  Through grant making, fundraising, and human resource support, the Foundation is focused on providing additional resources to support the school’s great tradition of excellence in academics and the arts.  Since its inception, the Foundation has awarded over one million dollars in grants to the school’s faculty and staff. Read more...

Sat., April 20, 9 am-noon - Gospel, Grits and Gershwin 2013

Participants of this morning gourmet brunch event will bid on live and silent auction items while feasting their ears on a variety of musical talent such as the school’s mainstay of Gospel, Grits and Gershwin – the Booker T. Washington Jazz Band and The Funky Ds – BTW’s high-stepping drum corps.

Buy individual tickets using your PayPal account.

Tickets are $50 each and can be purchased online at www.btwfoundation.net or a check can be mailed to: P.O. Box 52663, Tulsa, OK 74152-0663. Download the complete invitation: GGG 2013 Invitation.

If you would like to pay by credit card over the phone, please contact Stacy Gill at 918-260-2107 or sleigh333@gmail.com. For more information, contact Dawn Lowe, 2013 Gospel, Grits and Gershwin Chair at (918) 404-9600 or (918) 745-5234 or dlowe@gseok.org or langstongrad@gmail.com. Read the full press release: GGG 2013 Press Release.

(For sponsorship information see Gospel, Grits and Gershwin and Funded Grants page.)

Booker T. Washington High School is one of only two schools in the state of Oklahoma offering the International Baccalaureate Diploma and we serve a diverse mix of 1,200 students from every part of our city. Tulsa is fortunate to have such an excellent public high school available to our citizens, but we could not provide this top level education without support from our community. The BTW Foundation for Excellence was established in 1993 to enhance the learning opportunities BTW. Thanks to generous donors, the Foundation has been able to provide grants to faculty members to subsidize classroom resources, and to supplement the special needs of our school, which are not funded by Tulsa Public Schools. The Foundation has allowed BTW students opportunities that would not otherwise be possible.

The Booker T. Washington Foundation for Excellence with honor lifelong Tulsan, Julius Pegues graduated from Booker T. Washington High School in 1953 as valedictorian and a star basketball player. He wanted to be an engineer, but racial segregation denied him entry to any Oklahoma college that offered such a degree. Tulsa oilman E. Alex Phillips, a University of Pittsburgh graduate, helped pave the way for him to enter Pitt. He would become the school’s first black basketball player and was one of only 34 players in the school’s basketball history to reach 1,000 points in career scoring. He served on the boards of the Tulsa NAACP, Tulsa Urban League, Tulsa Comprehensive Health Services, Family and Children’s Services, Hutcherson Branch YMCA, Tulsa Housing Authority, and Tulsa Board of Education Human Relations Committee. He is a member of the City of Tulsa Economic Development Commission. (See photo on Gospel, Grits and Gershwin page.

See pictures from 2010 Gospel Grits and Gershwin

See pictures from 2011 Gospel Grits and Gershwin

Support BTW with your tax-deductible gift. All donations will provide funding for 2012-2013 grants. Grant revenue for the Foundation is derived from our Annual Giving Campaign, Gospel, Grits and Gershwin and other fundraisers. You may make donations through PayPal.