Long-time Nixa teacher Emma Talbot died in 2020, but her impact on education extends beyond her life. Ms. Talbot bequeathed a seven-figure gift to the Ozarks Technical Community College Foundation. The donation is one of the most significant cash gifts the college has ever received from a single donor. Today, Thursday, Aug. 12, OTC named the atrium at its Richwood Valley campus in Christian County in honor of The Talbot Family.
“Ms. Talbot was an outstanding educator who focused on helping her students in and out of the classroom,” said Dr. Hal Higdon, OTC chancellor. “Her generous gift allows her legacy to live beyond her lifetime by removing financial barriers for students who seek to better their lives.”
This seven-figure gift will establish the Talbot Family Scholarship Fund, which provides financial assistance for OTC students with an emphasis on single mothers. The fund will provide scholarships for up to 40 OTC students each year and will assist students beginning in fall 2021.
Emma Talbot is remembered as a humanitarian who prioritized education above all else. She taught in Nixa Public Schools for decades, where she twice earned Teacher of the Year accolades, but her care for children did not end at the schoolhouse door. When some students did not have enough to eat, lacked support at home, or simply had trouble getting to school, Ms. Talbot would lend a hand. A lifelong learner, when Ms. Talbot taught herself the ins and outs of financial investing, she shared her knowledge by creating an all-female investment group. Even after a cancer diagnosis, Ms. Talbot borrowed her doctors’ medical journals to learn as much about the disease as possible. It was this desire to continue learning that fueled her passion for education.
Please visit the application link to apply for the Talbot Family Scholarship or any of the OTC Foundation scholarships.