Odomes awards Heinze with Big 12 grant

Special to Leader-Press

Oklahoma Sooner basketball standout and CCHS alumni Rashard Odomes has not forgotten where he came from or how he got where he is today. And, he has not forgotten how to say thank you. 

Odomes selected Copperas Cove High School marketing teacher Charlotte Heinze to receive a $1,000 grant for classroom supplies. The award is given through the College Football Player Foundation’s Extra Yard for Teacher’s Program. Odomes is one of the Big 12 athletes featured in the foundation’s Champions for Life campaign. 

Through the campaign, the Big 12 features the stories of student athletes who excel both in the classroom and on the field/court and have benefitted from receiving an athletic scholarship.

Odomes welcomed the opportunity to nominate Heinze whom he said made a lasting impact on him not only during his academic journey but still in his life today.

“She helped me mature on and off the court with the life lessons that she taught me,” Odomes said. 

Britton Banowsky, Executive Director of the College Football Playoff Foundation, said the funds that Heinze is provided will assist in enhancing the classroom experience for her students.

“The Big 12 and the CFP Foundation believe that teachers are the fabric of the American education system and recognizing dedication of role models such as (Heinze) is critically important to both organizations,” Banowsky said. 

While at CCHS, Odomes was enrolled in multiple classes taught by Heinze and also active in DECA, an extracurricular marketing organization through which Heinze has qualified students for the world stage several years running.