The Ada Thoma and Melva Owens Memorial Scholarship will be awarded to a USD 260 graduating senior who intends to pursue an education career and will be applied to expenses of his/her first year of education after high school at an accredited post-secondary educational institution. The student must have a high school grade point average of 3.0 or an ACT score of 21. Students who receive full scholarships to college are not eligible for this scholarship.
Remembering Ada Thoma
Ada Thoma was a dedicated woman with a passion for teaching. Ms. Thoma was a teacher at Derby High School in the Business Education Department for 19 years. Upon retirement, Ms. Thoma established the Ada Thoma No-Interest Student Loan Program with Derby Community Education. These funds were transferred to the Derby Community Foundation when Derby Community Education dissolved.
Remembering Melva Owens
From her humble beginnings as a student in a one-room schoolhouse in central Oklahoma, Dr. Melva Owens became a nationally recognized expert on the topic of educational leadership. Dr. Owens’s career was full of risk-taking and distinction. She served as principal of Derby High School for 2 years and as superintendent for Derby USD 260 for 6 years; she was just the fourth woman in Kansas to gain the rank of superintendent among 304 local school districts. Dr. Owens was the first woman to be elected President of the Kansas Association of Secondary School Principals and to be named Kansas Principal of the Year. Dr. Owens was a capable, caring, effective teacher and administrator with a rare combination of personal and professional skills.