The Willam Boone Scholarship honors the remarkable legacy of an educator, school administrator and published author who dedicated his life to education in Kansas City, Kansas.

 

Mr. William Boone was a graduate of Sumner High School and then attended Kansas State Teachers College in Pittsburg, KS where he received Bachelor and Master degrees in Chemistry. 

 

After he graduated college, Boone returned to Kansas City, KS to teach at Sumner High School. He taught science there from 1953-1958 and during this time was the chair of the science department. Each year his students won the science fair held in Kansas City, MO rating Sumner in the top ten in the nation in science. In 1959 William Boone was promoted to principal of Northeast Junior High School and later promoted to assistant principal at FL Schlagle High School. 

 

In 1986, William Boone and his wife, Leah, co-wrote a foundational historical account of Black education in Kansas City, KS in A History of Black Education in Kansas City, KS, Readin’, ‘Riting, ‘Rithmetic. The book chronicles the evolution of schools in USD 500, highlighting the institutional strength of segregated schools and the role of the Black community in shaping educational opportunities, including the establishment of Sumner High School in 1905, which was named in honor of abolitionist Charles Sumner.