Manatee Elementary School officials establishing $50,000 scholarship in honor of Janiya Thomas
BRADENTON -- A scholarship to honor the life of Janiya Thomas is in the works at her former elementary school.
Through community partnerships and local fundraising, Manatee Elementary School officials are hoping to establish an annual $50,000 scholarship for a graduating Manatee County senior who attended Manatee Elementary to help cover some of the cost for college in honor of Janiya.
"This is our way to provide someone with an education that Janiya didn't get an opportunity to have," Manatee Elementary School Principal Deb Houston said Tuesday.
The body of 11-year-old Janiya Thomas was discovered Oct. 18, stuffed into a locked freezer and delivered to the house of family members by Janiya's mother, Keishanna Thomas. Officials think Janiya died in January or February 2015, and her mother has been charged with first-degree murder.
Janiya attended Manatee Elementary School before her mother pulled her out and told district officials she was going to homeschool her. The family missed the required annual evaluation to provide Janiya was making academic progress and Keishanna ultimately told officials Janiya no longer lived in the district, so Janiya was unenrolled.
Keishanna Thomas is charged with first-degree murder, abuse of a dead body, aggravated child abuse and child abuse. If convicted of first-degree murder, she will face a mandatory life prison sentence after the state said it would not seek the death penalty.
Houston said the idea of a scholarship came from some of the staff at the school, who remembered Janiya as a "sweet soul," with "warm eyes."
"We were so touched by the egregiousness of the act," Houston said. "They thought they needed to do something in honor of her."
Working with community partners, including the Manatee Community Foundation, Houston said they hope to award the first scholarship to a graduating senior sometime in the spring of 2017, in time for the fall 2017-18 academic year.
Commissioner Carol Whitmore, who shared the news of the scholarship with other commissioners during Tuesday's meeting, said she's very happy about the scholarship.
"It's a horrific, tragic, disgusting turn of events that happened to this poor little girl," Whitmore said. "It's a positive thing for our community to help heal our wounds. We are never going to forget her. It will serve as a reminder." Janiya's name will be on something good, Whitmore said.
"She may be helping others in the future have a positive life," she said.
-- Claire Aronson, Manatee County reporter, contributed to this story.
Meghin Delaney, education reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7081. Follow her on Twitter @MeghinDelaney.
This story was originally published April 12, 2016 at 11:24 PM with the headline "Manatee Elementary School officials establishing $50,000 scholarship in honor of Janiya Thomas ."