She wanted her students to share in the celebration and planned a day-long field trip with stops at the Oklahoma Museum of Art, the State Capitol and Science Museum Oklahoma before returning to Tulsa to visit OU-Tulsa and attend convocation ceremonies. Wilbur invited them so they could see that the dream of higher education is available to anyone with the determination to acquire it.

On the night she celebrated this achievement, her entire sixth grade class from the school she leads was there to witness it. Lyda Wilbur, the principal at Mitchell Elementary in Tulsa, recently graduated with a doctorate in education.