Fletcher’s Caleb Campbell named academic all-stater

FLETCHER – Caleb Campbell had an outstanding academic career at Fletcher High School and his plan is to build on those accomplishments at Oklahoma Baptist University in Shawnee.

But first, he and his family celebrated his selection as a recent Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence Academic All-Stater during an awards banquet in Oklahoma City. Campbell was among 100 outstanding seniors from Oklahoma public schools who were honored by the foundation as Academic All-Staters. Campbell received an Academic All-State scholarship sponsored by the Kenneth & Juliette Woodward Scholarship Endowment Fund. Campbell’s math teacher Inju Snyder also attended the ceremony.

The Fletcher graduate said he was happy to be named an Academic All-Stater and is looking forward to college life when he starts his freshman year in August. His parents and two older siblings also attended OBU.

“I’m very excited. I met some people who are already there,” he said. “It (OBU) is almost like a second home since I would visit my older sister when she was going there. It’s like going back to a small town.”

Campbell had some help along the way since his mother Laura Campbell also served as the Fletcher High School counselor.

“I advised all three of them to start taking the ACT in the seventh grade, and challenged them academically,” she recalled. “Caleb worked very hard and is very competitive.”

The new OBU student took the college entrance exam 10 times and scored a personal best 33, which qualified him to apply for the Academic All-State honor.

“For my own children, I told them their college money would come from their ACT scores,” the counselor said.

Serving as her children’s’ counselor was a bit difficult at times, Laura Campbell said.

“I feel like I rode my kids harder than others,” she admitted. “I tried to step back and if they needed help, they had to come ask me like the other kids.”

Her plan apparently worked for each of them. Campbell’s daughter is a public schoolteacher at El Reno; her oldest son works for a cyber forensics company; and Caleb will be majoring in math when he starts at OBU.

Caleb’s academic and extracurricular record shows his involvement in a wide variety of activities. He is an Oklahoma State Regents Academic Scholar and Fletcher class valedictorian. He served as vice president of his senior class and was a member of his school’s academic team. He also played on the Fletcher varsity basketball and baseball teams. Campbell played point guard and shooting guard on the Fletcher basketball team and played left field, center field and shortstop on the baseball squad.

Campbell received the Oklahoma Baptist University Scholar Award, the National Leadership Award from the American Youth Foundation and the Masonic Fraternity of Oklahoma Student of Today Award. He also served as a drummer in the Central Baptist Church of Lawton worship and praise band and was a camp counselor at CrossTimbers Children’s Camp. Campbell also enjoys hunting and playing disc golf in his free time.