Pam McComas

2017 Distinguished Staff

Topeka High School has long been recognized as a national leader in debate and forensics, a major reason being Mrs. Pam McComas who taught at THS from 1978 – 2014. Mrs. McComas graduated from Shawnee Heights H.S. and subsequently received her Bachelor of Science degree in Education from Emporia State University (1972) and Master’s degree from there in 1973. Before coming to Topeka High she taught at Highland Park, Capper and Boswell junior highs and Highland Park H.S. During her 35-year THS career she was Director of Forensics and taught Speech, Acting, Debate, Forensics, History of Film, Humanities and pre-AP 9th English. Mrs. McComas had numerous other responsibilities including Co-chair for North Central Accreditation. Honors include: her teams winning 6A State Debate 5 times; winning 6A State Speech Championship 13 times; coaching 5 national champions; National Coach of the Year (1999) and Kansas Teacher’s Hall of Fame (2017).

Raymond L. Powers (1964)

2017 Hall of Fame Inductee

Business executive.

At Topeka High Ray Powers played the clarinet in the “Gold Band”. After graduation, like many a male Trojan, he entered the Army for two years (1965-67). Upon his discharge he returned home taking a job at Hallmark Cards as Group Leader in the Quality Dept. (the Topeka warehouse). Slowly but surely he rose through the ranks, along the way earning his Bachelor’s degree in Graphic Arts Technology/Management from Central Missouri State University (1982) and a Master’s in Management from Baker University (1995). Upon moving to Kansas City, Mr. Powers enjoyed growing responsibilities including graphic arts engineer, proofing & testing manager, safety & environmental manager, and so forth. He then became Production Manager at the Leavenworth plant and next Plant Manager in Kansas City. In 1995 Hallmark elevated him to Vice President – North American Production and as a corporate officer (first African-American as a vice president) and still later (2002) Vice President of Manufacturing. He retired in 2007.

Bradley K. Garlinghouse (1989)

2017 Hall of Fame Inductee

President of Student Council, World editor, Homecoming King candidate; of course, it all meant one day Mr. Garlinghouse would be featured, with picture, on the front page of the Wall Street Journal. At the University of Kansas, where he was elected Student Body President, he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics (1993). After a brief stint with SBC Communications in Kansas City in 1997, Mr. Garlinghouse was awarded a Master’s in Business Administration from Harvard. Then it was off to California and Silicon Valley. From 2003 to 2008 he was with Yahoo! becoming its Senior Vice President, Communications & Communities. Other business experience includes AOL, Inc. and being CEO of Hightail, a leading provider of cloud based file management services. Today (2017) he is CEO of Ripple, a San Francisco company that provides “secure, instant and nearly free global financial transactions of any size.” As for the Wall Street Journal story, see Kevin J. Delaney, “As Yahoo Falters, Executive’s Memo Calls for Overhaul,” November 18-19, 2006, p. A1.P.S., his memo was titled “The Peanut Butter Manifesto.”