Ellen is a retired teacher, formerly at Central Middle School, Honolulu, Hawaii, is Past President of the Hawaii Association of Middle Schools (HAMS), and has provided workshops at the national level for the National Middle School Association (NMSA). She has a Masters degree in Middle School Education from the University of Hawaii.

This November, Mrs. Ellen Owens will depart for Tokyo, Japan as a participant in the Fulbright Memorial Fund (FMF) Teacher Program. She was selected from a national pool of over 2,100 applicants by a panel of educators to earn this honor. This program allows distinguished primary and secondary school teachers in the U.S. to travel to Japan for three weeks in an effort to promote greater intercultural understanding between the two nations.

Along with the other educators selected, Mrs. Owens will get to experience Japanese life and culture and meet with Japanese government officials and educators. She will have contact with Japanese teachers and students during visits to primary and secondary schools as well as a teacher's college. She will also visit cultural sites and local industries in addition to a homestay with a Japanese family.

The program is sponsored by the Government of Japan and was launched to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the U.S. government Fulbright Program, which has enabled more than 6,000 Japanese citizens to study in the U.S. on Fulbright fellowships for graduate education and research.