Grant to further OSU creative partnership with Tulsa school

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Grant to further OSU creative partnership with Tulsa school

Creative Oklahoma, a statewide nonprofit organization, has awarded Oklahoma State University a $2,500 innovation grant for a project with East Central High School in Tulsa to help students learn to think and act entrepreneurially. The grant recognizes and sustains new or ongoing creative initiatives that contribute to the greater good.

     “Entrepreneurial thinking and behavior is about learning to recognize opportunity and obtaining the skills necessary to marshal the resources to achieve your objective,” said Melanie Page, director of the OSU Institute for Creative Innovation. “It provides students with a solid foundation in terms of the vital role played by creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship in the 21st century global economy.”

    OSU has partnered with ECHS as a key component in the high school’s work to be the first entrepreneurship magnet school in the state. The OSU/East Central partnership offers a model for the future of K-12 as well as higher education that could be replicated across the state and nation, according to Page. OSU will supply faculty and guests for lectures, visiting artists, and creativity and innovation experts to work with ECHS students as well as provide teacher training.

     Page is the lead researcher for the grant project which involves co-researchers Craig Watters, Rubin Pillay, and Mike Morris from OSU, and Mike Noshay from ECHS.