COMMUNITY
Text and photos courtesy of the Fayetteville Public Education Foundation
30th Annual Hall of Honor Commemorates Alumni and Educators
Hosted by the Fayetteville Public Education Foundation and co-hosted by the Fayetteville High School Student Alumni Association and Student Council, the 30th annual Hall of Honor Ceremony will recognize four outstanding individuals Oct. 22 at the Fayetteville Public Library. The 2026 inductees to the Fayetteville Schools Hall of Honor are Anna Harper, Meredith Lowry, and Thelma and Romey Thomason.
Anna Harper | Class of 2000
A Fayetteville native, Harper attended Washington Elementary School, Woodland Junior High and Fayetteville High School, graduating in 2000 as a Distinguished Honor Graduate and four-sport varsity athlete. She attended the University of Arkansas on a Chancellor’s Scholarship before transferring to Wake Forest University for her bachelor’s degree, then earned a master’s degree in physical therapy from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.
Harper began her career as a pediatric physical therapist at Children’s Health in Dallas. She now serves as executive director of Partners in Opportunity in Dallas, where she helps extremely low-income families move into high-opportunity neighborhoods with strong public schools.
As a volunteer, Harper co-founded Propel DR, a nonprofit that established the first physical therapy clinic in Bayona, Dominican Republic, coordinated the country’s first supply chain for custom-fitted wheelchairs and trained hundreds of Dominican healthcare professionals. She and her husband, Andrew, are foster care advocates who have fostered five children through Dallas County Child Protective Services.
Harper lives in Dallas with Andrew and their children, Molly and Davis.
Meredith Lowry | Class of 1998
A Fayetteville native, Lowry attended Root Elementary School, Woodland Junior High and Fayetteville High School, graduating in 1998. She earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Arkansas in 2002 and her Juris Doctor from the University of Arkansas School of Law in 2005.
Lowry is a partner at Wright Lindsey Jennings, where she practices intellectual property and data privacy law. In 2019 she founded Woman-Run, a firm initiative supporting woman-owned businesses, and in 2024 she was named chair of the Arkansas Bar Association’s Artificial Intelligence Task Force.
She has volunteered extensively across Northwest Arkansas, including with the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families’ Soup Sunday, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art’s Artinfusion committee and the Single Parent Scholarship Fund of Northwest Arkansas. She currently serves on the boards of the Mount Sequoyah Center, Women’s Foundation of Arkansas and TheatreSquared’s Corporate Council. Lowry was named a Women’s Foundation of Arkansas Woman of Impact in 2023 and has been listed in The Best Lawyers in America for Patent Law since 2018.
Lowry and her husband, Andy, live in Fayetteville with their children, Olivia, John and Kate.
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Thelma & Romey Thomason | Former Educators
Thelma Thomason was born in Arkansas City, Arkansas, and earned her bachelor’s degree in education from Little Rock Baptist College. In 1961 she and her husband, Romey, became the first Black educators in Fayetteville Public Schools, teaching at the Lincoln School, which at the time was the district’s only school serving Black students in grades 1-6. Thelma went on to teach kindergarten through third grade at Butterfield Trail and Vandergriff elementary schools, retiring in 2023 after 61 years, the longest tenure in district history. She was active with the United Way, her church, and the Fayetteville Community Relations Association, where she served as president.
Romey Thomason was born and raised in Brinkley, Arkansas, and earned his bachelor’s degree in education. Beyond the Lincoln School, he taught at Woodland Junior High, Ramay Junior High and Fayetteville High School and was promoted to principal of the Lincoln School in 1964. He spent decades documenting Fayetteville sports through the Woodland Camera Club he sponsored, and drove buses for the Youth Center and Boys & Girls Club programs. Romey retired from Fayetteville Public Schools in 2012 and passed away in November 2016.
A reception will be held at 5:30 p.m., dinner will be served at 6:30 p.m. and the ceremony will begin at 7:30 p.m. Reservations for the event are $125 each and may be purchased by calling the foundation office at (479) 527-3655 or by visiting the Fayetteville Public Education Foundation website.