Kristen Olson, a history and government teacher at Ray High School, was looking for a meaningful way to honor her father after his passing last year.
“I’ve always been influenced by him, so I wanted to do a scholarship for the Ray students that focused on his service, since he was always a big advocate for education,” Olson said.
Her father, Ted Meckle, entered the US Navy from 1952 to 1956. He was a Boilerman 1st class on the USS Rich and USS Sierra during the Korean conflict. He was awarded the National Defense Service Medal, Navy Occupation Service Medal, and the Good Conduct Medal.
“He had only gone through eighth grade, but he loved to read and for all of us kids, he really promoted education and higher education,” Olson said.
So, she thought, what better way to honor his memory than to support students pursuing higher education? But Kristen had one problem – she had never done anything like this before: “It can be a lot to do on your own and getting things set up,” she said. That’s where the NDU Foundation comes in.
“I went to our local union to make sure that it was something that they were okay being a part of. Then from there, we got in contact with the NDU Foundation, and they were great: they lined everything out and just made it a very easy process for me as far as being the teacher behind it and for my family.”
As a 501(c)(3) public charity, donations to the NDU Foundation are tax-deductible for donors, in accordance with IRS code provisions. With the financial logistics managed by professionals, Kristen could concentrate on what she had set out to do in the first place: honoring her father’s legacy by working with the Ray Education Association to identify deserving students, like Maddix Falk, whose grandfather served in Vietnam.
“It’s really just an honor to be a part of this scholarship and being able to carry on Ted Meckle’s legacy,” Falk said.
Falk, who graduated from Ray High School in 2024, is now attending Williston State College, where she is pursuing an associate in science degree before she heads to a four-year school for biomedical engineering.
“Hopefully, I’ll be getting to work with a lot of machinery and new technology. I don’t know exactly if I want to create new things or work on maintaining stuff that’s already there. Maybe like prosthetics. Who knows?” Falk said.
Falk is one of three Ray High School graduates who received $200 through the scholarship this year.
