After decades of service and support of public education, Jim and Ethel Edwards to receive honors
Decades ago, on a small Nebraska farm just 60 miles on the other side of the northwest Kansas border, young Ethel Edwards knew she wouldn't necessarily follow in her family's footsteps.
Farming was their means of living, but it wasn't much. If her family could give her anything, though, it would be an appreciation for public education and the transformative effect it could have on people's lives and economic situations.
It's a perspective neither she nor her husband, Jim, have never forgotten.
The Edwards are this year's recipients of the Topeka Public Schools Foundation's Patron Award, meant to recognize a long-standing dedication to public education and improving opportunities and the welfare of students.
Pamela Johnson-Betts, executive director of the Topeka Public Schools Foundation, said recognizing the Edwards couple was one of the quickest and easiest decisions the foundation board had ever made.
"When you have the kind of caliber of the Edwards who have served for decades for the foundation — not only serving but giving their time and talent and year after year giving contributions beyond anyone’s expectations — there was no question we wanted to recognize these individuals," Johnson said.
More: Free, reduced-lunch applications tick back toward normal for Topeka USD 501
Jim and Ethel Edwards have been pillars of Topeka education for decades
Neither side of the couple grew up in Kansas, but after meeting in college in Nebraska, the pair moved to Kansas for jobs.
Before retiring in 2015, Ethel Edwards had spent more than 40 years in education, the last 39 of those in Kansas. She worked in various districts like Buhler USD 313 and Garden City USD 457 before coming to Topeka.
Throughout that career, Ethel was at various times a math teacher, a language arts teacher, a librarian and even an assistant principal. Ethel also worked as a Title I administrator at the Kansas State Department of Education.
Jim Edwards, on the other hand, started his career in chamber work at chambers of commerce around the state, before working for the Kansas Chamber of Commerce as a lobbyist. He later joined the Kansas Association of School Boards, also as a lobbyist.
In both positions, he advocated for education and economic development policies, just with a difference in how those were prioritized, he joked. He retired in 2012.
Throughout their respective careers, though, both sought additional opportunities to serve and support public schools, and when then-USD 501 superintendent Marvin Edwards in 1986 launched the Topeka Public Schools Foundation, the Edwards knew they wanted to support the organization however they could.
More: Jerry Farley and Washburn University have been together for a generation. What comes next?
Both have served as members and even presidents of the organization throughout its 36-year history.
Ethel Edwards, who herself was a recipient of Topeka Public Schools Foundation grants when she taught in the district, said the foundation was a ground-breaking organization when it was founded, and it continues to be that, especially when USD 501 is one of five school districts in the county.
"The foundation gives that extra support to teachers to do those above-and-beyond activities that other, wealthier districts can more easily build into their budgets," she said.
Johnson-Betts said many will recognize the couple, but few will truly realize the extent of the impact that "the quiet movers" have had on the Topeka community. Even when the foundation hasn't been able to meet certain needs for USD 501 schools, the couple has stepped up and given directly.
"These are not names you see often or in big lights, but they’re individuals who if you just look below the surface, they’re there," Johnson-Betts said. "They contribute in so many kinds of ways. They’re the kind of heart-and-soul servants who truly make the difference because they do it for the right reasons, and that is to make a difference."
Edwards couple: Anyone can be a public schools advocate
Jim and Ethel, for their part, said they have been "flabbergasted" by being name as recipients of the award, which will be presented during the foundation's breakfast Tuesday morning. Scores of friends and connections from their multiple other community involvements have reached out to congratulate the couple on the distinction.
"It's an honor, and it's humbling," Ethel said.
"Neither one of us did it with the end goal of getting an award," Jim said. "We both have done this because we saw it was needed, and it was the right thing to do."
Both hope that if anything, their award can spur others to think as to how they can also support public schools, either with their time, talents or treasures.
More: Topeka USD 501 teachers, staff, administrators to see raises in 2022-23. Here's how much.
More people, they said, should go and sit in classrooms and see firsthand the type of miracles teachers work every day in reaching not only the best and brightest, but the students who struggle.
"It’s important for people to get involved, whether it’s through the foundation, other programs like Communities in Schools, reading programs or anything," Jim said. "It’s about realizing that teachers can’t do it all by themselves."
Jim credits his public school career with helping him become a critical thinker and leader, while Ethel said it opened up horizons she, as a young Nebraska farm girl, could not have thought possible.
"It gave me multiple opportunities, and it gave me so many jobs," Ethel said. "It opened doors, and I met people I never would have met, experienced things I never would have experienced, and learned things I never would have learned."
Rafael Garcia is an education reporter for the Topeka Capital-Journal. He can be reached at rgarcia@cjonline.com or by phone at 785-289-5325. Follow him on Twitter at @byRafaelGarcia.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Topeka Public Schools Foundation to honor Jim and Ethel Edwards
