Ora Van Slyke Award

Miss Ora Van Slyke was a native of Massachusetts, who graduated from Smith College in 1911. She began her career at the Brockport Training School in 1916 and served as Campus School Grade Supervisor for the fourth grade until her retirement in 1953.

In addition to teaching, Miss Van Slyke chaired many campus productions, from the bicentennial of George Washington’s birth in 1932, to a 1942 production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” in which all eighth grade boys had parts and each grade of the Campus School was represented. In between she produced holiday programs—including a traditional British Yuletide play about St. George and the dragon, Color Day festivities, and other theatrical presentations.

In 1953, she produced and directed “Sourwood Mountain,” a musical based on folk songs as her final program. The production included songs, dances, humor, and an orchestra. According to The Stylus, the program involved 100 to 200 children, and was very well received by the community.

Professionally, she was active with the Central Western Zone of the New York State Teachers Association. In 1947, she chaired two divisions of the organization’s 102nd conference for approximately 6,000 teachers.

At Brockport, she was a member of the Alumni-Faculty Relations Committee in the 1940s, and she and her fourth grade class produced a book on the campus flower gardens that she presented to then president Dr. Ernest Hartwell in 1949. In the community, she was an active member of the Twigs of Lakeside Memorial Hospital. She spoke on world affairs at a 1946 meeting of the Ladies Luncheon at the Methodist Church.

After her retirement, Miss Van Slyke remained in Brockport, returning to the classroom for the 1961-62 school year. She passed away in 1977 at the age of 89.

Students qualified for the Ora Van Slyke Award will be sophomore or juniors preparing to enter their junior or senior years, who have an academic average GPA of 3.0 or better and who demonstrate financial need. Students who have an interest in art, dance, music, theater or arts for children may receive preference.