State champions The McGuinness boys soccer team, left, and the Crossings Christian boys tennis team, right, claimed state championships last weekend. The Irish shut out Tulsa Edison for the Class 5A title, while the Knights captured their fourth straight crown. Sports, Pages 4 & 5
OKC Friday okcfriday.com • facebook.com/okcfriday Vol. 60, No. 2
May 22, 2026
People You Should Know
ANDY WEHRICH, PhD President Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation Where did you grow up, and do you have a favorite childhood memory? I grew up in Columbus, Ohio. My favorite memory was playing football with my brothers and neighbors in our front yard that resembled a mini football field. What did you want to be when you grew up? A professional baseball player, but I realized that wasn’t in the cards – so I pivoted to being a health professional. What are you most passionate about professionally? Enhancing lives through the advancement of human health. Has your definition of success changed as you’ve developed your career? Yes. I used to focus on advancing my personal career, but now I’m passionate about advancing the careers of my colleagues. What is a perfect day for you? Celebrating the success of my friends and colleagues at OMRF and the greater Oklahoma community. See PYSK, Page 3
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Officials from the Potts Family Foundation and Oklahoma City Public Schools cut the ribbon on the Potts Family Early Learning Center.
Potts Family Early Learning center supports children, working educators, parenting students Oklahoma City Public Schools (OKCPS) officially celebrated the opening of the Potts Family Early Learning Center with a ribbon cutting ceremony at John Marshall Enterprise High School. Made possible through a generous gift from the Potts Family, in collaboration with the Oklahoma City Public Schools Foundation and the Oklahoma City
Community Foundation, the new center is designed to serve the unique needs of working educators and student parents. The facility aims to remove barriers to employment and educational success while supporting high-quality early childhood development. During the event, OKCPS leadership highlighted the importance of community partnerships
in bringing the center to life and emphasized its role in supporting both students and staff. Attendees also heard about how the center will create new workforce development opportunities for students with an early childhood education internship program. “This center represents what’s See POTTS, Page 3
Voters decide residency rules for city manager By Eric Oesch Staff Writer City leaders in The Village have voted to place 11 amendments to the city charter before residents during a special election scheduled for Aug. 25. The city
charter amendments are to join questions to approve a lodging tax and a franchise renewal with OG&E for electric services. The charter revisions have been a two-year process as the city has identified 26 updates,
FRIDAY’s Dog of the Week Pearl Beverly posing for all the Thunder things! Pearl is a Standard English Cream Golden Doodle. Her human is DeDe Grewell. Email Pet of the Week submissions to rose@okcfriday.com.
primarily driven by changes from 1959 to 2026. The city charter updates are a first for the city and require a vote of the people. “We will place 11 questions before voters this year and 11 questions next year,” said
City Manager Dave Slezickey. “I know that is only 22 questions, but some of the updates can be combined into a single question.” The residency requirement for the office See VILLAGE, Page 14
Three FRIDAY students are Merit Scholars By Rose Lane Editor Three Fridayland students have been named National Merit Scholars by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation as $2,500 scholarship winners. The 2,500 Merit Scholar designees were chosen from a talent pool of more than 15,000 outstanding Finalists in the 2026 National Merit Scholarship Program. See MERIT, Page 3
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