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Panhandling Teacher’s sign to go on display at the Smithsonian…

1:38 PM EDT on April 29, 2019

A sign of Oklahoma's indifference towards education will be put on display in Washington D.C.

On Saturday, News 9 announced that former Ogle Madness 1-seed Teresa Roark – a.k.a. the "panhandling teacher" – will have her "Teacher Needs School Supplies" sign put on display at the Smithsonian.

Here are details via News 9:

A sign highlighting the need for education funding in Oklahoma will soon be on display at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History.

According to Tulsa teacher Teresa Roark, a curator with the museum is working to put together an exhibition about education philanthropy. Her story and sign will be on display in Washington DC next year.

They're including a sign that a teacher used to panhandle for school supplies in an exhibit for education philanthropy? That's interesting. Does that mean giving money to a panhandler is considered philanthropy now? If so, does giving money to the puppeteer at 23rd and Penn make one a philanthropist and friend of the local puppeting community? Just curious.

Anyway, even though it helps engrain yet another negative aspect of Oklahoma culture into the national psyche, it's nice to see Teresa's sign finally get some national attention. For a while, I thought nobody would know about her and the sign, and that both would fade out of the public eye and be forgotten. Boy was I wrong! Now the sign – and Oklahoma's proud general history of not really giving a shit about public education – will be viewed by thousands and thousands of people from across the world, especially those who are interested in education philanthropy. Is this a great state or what!?

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