Columbia Public Schools Foundation adds alumni, retired educators to its Hall of Leaders
The Columbia Public Schools Foundation added four to its Hall of Leaders on Thursday during an event at the State Historical Society of Missouri.
The emcee, KOMU sports director Ben Arnet, marveled at the power and reach of the educators and retired educators in the room.
"I can remember the exact moment at Hickman High School when a teacher inspired me to do what I do today," Arnet said.
He also remarked on the common experience of many in the room of field trips to the Rock Bridge High School Planetarium. The foundation recently funded an upgrade of the planetarium.
The foundation's mission is to enrich education in CPS, said foundation director Katie Harris.
"This is the first time we have honored a Hall of Leaders Class since 2019 because of the pandemic," Harris said.
A video described some of the many project the foundation has funded. A $1 million posthumous donation is funding the Kay McLeod Scholarship, which will provide $2,500 to a graduating senior seeking a career in education at each of the four high schools.
The foundation donated $100,000 to the Boone County Nature School.
There also were grants to upgrade the planetarium and to help the marketing and digital media program at Columbia Area Career Center.
Outstanding alumni
The foundation's outstanding alumni are Adam Beckett and the late Col. Matthew Peach.
Beckett, a graduate of Rock Bridge, is founder and president of Global First Responder, a not-for-profit international medical relief organization that connects medical professionals in the U.S. with medical care opportunities in places of critical need. He has been an attending emergency room physician at University of Missouri Hospital since 2006 and an attending physician at Truman Memorial Veterans Hospital since 2020. He assisted a woman at the event who fell until an ambulance arrived.
Peach, who died in 2017, was a 1946 graduate of Douglass High School. He was Columbia's first African-American military aviator who reached the rank of colonel in the U.S. Air Force. He earned his pilot wings in 1957 and became a command pilot in 1972. His 30-year Air Force career included being rescued in Laos during the Vietnam War. He earned many military awards and decorations. His daughter, Sheri Peach, accepted his award.
Outstanding retired educators
The foundation honored Craig Adams and Wanda Brown as outstanding retired educators.
Adams retired in 2018 after a 30-year career in CPS. He became the district's STEAM coordinator - science, technology, engineering, the arts and math. He modified a school bus as a STEAM bus, traveling to schools to provide students with a lab and technology that wasn't available in all schools. He is a founder of the Columbia STEM Alliance, a not-for-profit providing STEM educational opportunities.
Brown retired in 2012 after a 34-year career with CPS. She was assistant superintendent for secondary education, Hickman High School principal and assistant principal before that. She also was principal of Smithton Middle School. She is a co-founder of the Multicultural Achievement Committee Scholars program. She led the design committee for Battle High School.
The foundation has funded projects in every school in CPS, allocating more than $1.6 million so far.
Roger McKinney is the Tribune's education reporter. You can reach him at rmckinney@columbiatribune.com or 573-815-1719. He's on Twitter at @rmckinney9.
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: It is the first class of CPS Foundation Hall of Leaders since 2019
