Retired teacher appointed to school board
Sheila Brown-Kinnard has been appointed to fill the at-large position on the Wichita Board of Education made vacant by the death of Melody McCray-Miller this spring.
Brown-Kinnard taught drama at Mayberry Cultural and Fine Arts Magnet Middle School before retiring in 2020. She’s the daughter of Jo Brown, the first African American woman elected to the school board, and was a longtime friend of McCray-Miller.
Brown-Kinnard, one of 10 applicants for the position, said she sought it “at the urging of some the elders in my community. They said I should go for it, so I did.” Her term runs through 2027.
Recalling her mother, she said, “I remember her serving through the seventies, then a term came available in the ‘80s and she served a short time. It was a very pivotal time in our school district as they were trying to institute an equitable integration plan.”
Brown-Kinnard said one of her priorities is promoting a $615 million bond issue the board is expected to put before voters in November.
“There are just a lot of positive things in the issue, and the amount that people are going to have pay is — I don’t want to say negligible — but it is low compared to the alternative of not moving at this time.”
Alkire honored with Hart Award
Laurel Alkire was named the Irene Hart Award winner for 2026 by Central Plains Area Agency on Aging. Alkire served as executive director of Senior Services, Inc., for more than two decades before her retirement last year. She is now a member of The Active Age’s board of directors. The Hart award is named for a former longtime director of CPAAA.
Artist donates mascot painting to alma mater
El Dorado artist Milo West donated a painting of El Dorado High School’s mascot, the wildcat, to the school in honor of the EHS class of ’62, of which he was a member. West’s artwork has also been shown at the Coutts Museum of Art and Alabaster Collective Artists Guild.
