Kansas Top Teachers Tell "Your Story"
to Legislators
The Kansas Teacher of the Year Team addressed the House and Senate
Education Committees recently, sharing a message involving quality
teachers, student success and progressive teaching and learning
that makes Kansas public schools so successful. After sharing their
comments (below) the teachers answered legislators' questions.
2004 Kansas
Teacher of the Year
 Keil
E. Hileman, II
Social studies teacher
Monticello Trails Middle School
Shawnee, KS
My name is Keil Hileman. I teach Museum Connections grades 6-8
at Monticello Trails Middle school in the De Soto Unified School
District. I have a Masters in Social Studies Curriculum and Instruction
and teach classes at the University of Missouri in Kansas City,
Mid America Nazarene University and Johnson County Community College.
Thank You for providing this time to share with you today.
We have a great deal to be proud of in the great state of Kansas:
- We have 302 unified school districts, 450,000 students and approximately
35,000 teachers.
- 94% of Kansas Teachers hold a degree in their field.
Our Teaching Leadership Team has three focus areas we feel are important to
the continued success of Kansas students and schools:
- Continuing to recruit and retain quality teachers,
- Continued student success, and
- Continuing to be a progressive state, with regard to education.
Teacher recruitment and retention is an area for concern I see every year in
my building and district. The private sector actively recruits educators. The
temptations of less stress and paperwork combined with significantly increased
salaries is very hard to pass up.
Thirty percent of all new teachers in Kansas leave the classroom in the first
3-5 years of teaching. Research has shown the two main reasons life long educators
remain in the classroom is a love of their student's age group or the subject
they teach. I love my students. I want them to have the best professional educators'
possible. Teachers have an immeasurable impact on the students they connect
with.
I have a student named Justin who has connected with me through my Classroom
Museum. He is in my room every day before school and almost every day after
school. I help him with his projects and assignments on a regular basis. Sometimes
we just sit, talk and share our lives.
Justin gave me this coin (silver dollar). It has a representation
of the Moon landing in 1969 on the Reverse. President Kennedy ignited
our imaginations and challenged us as a nation to reach the Moon
by 1970. We achieved that goal as a nation.
Qualified Kansas teachers inspire our children each and every day in hundreds
of ways. Qualified teachers in the classroom are the number one factor in the
success of students in Kansas Schools.
Justin needs me at Monticello Trails Middle School. My students need me to
be in my Classroom Museum. And my students need your help to make sure we recruit
and retain quality teachers across Kansas.
2004 Regional
Teachers of the Year
 Connie
Jo Ferree
Chemestry teacher
Emporia High School
Emporia, KS
I'm Connie Ferree, and I teach at Emporia High School. I have a Master's degree
in science education. I have taught a total of 22 years, 12 of those years in
Emporia. However, I have lived in Emporia all of the 22 years of my career.
During these 22 years I have experienced the changing demographics
of the Emporia community. When I moved to Emporia, the population
was about 17% minority. Now that population is around 37%. Our minority
population includes Hispanics, Asians, and African Americans. Many
of our community members are non-English speaking when they come
to our schools. From my experience, educating such a diverse population
presents many challenges.
I am now seeing students in my chemistry class who are relatively
new to the country, speak English fairly well, and want to proceed
with their education. For example, I have a student in my class
named Jose. He is a dedicated young man who really wants to succeed.
His language skills are a work in progress. He rarely speaks as
he is unsure of his skills. His reading is slow and labored, and
I find him in my classroom each morning struggling to read the chemistry
assignment, which is often a fairly technical piece of reading.
His writing is improving. Jose is struggling to survive in his new
country.
Jose faces many hurdles each day in his attempts to proceed in
education. For example, his parents do not speak English, making
their school interactions difficult and frustrating. Jose translates
for them.
In many ways, as difficult as Jose's situation is, he is fortunate.
I also have Maria in my class. Her language skills are not as polished
as Jose's. Her parents do not come to the school to support her.
She has just returned from Mexico after being gone for a month visiting
relatives over the holidays, and is far behind in her work. She
does not understand what we are presently studying and she will
struggle to catch up.
The various cultures in our community have different perceptions
of education. Some parents view their role in education as dropping
the child off for school and picking them up in the afternoon. Some
cannot speak the language finding it difficult to seek support for
their extended periods of time, removing their children from the
school for up to a month. There are also mobile families that move
in and out of our district throughout the year. Some children live
in poverty with several generations of family living in the same
residence.
Educationally, these behaviors make it difficult for the teacher
to build concepts for the students to progress. The students experience
all kinds of barriers that reduce their chances of success.
Schools like ours in Emporia need support to meet the needs of these students.
Teachers need to continue receive training to deal with the diversity we see
daily in our classrooms. We especially need support for initiating and maintaining
Second Language Learner programs both in the community and in the schools to
educate the population of students that we serve.
 Patrick
R. Lamb
Science teacher
Manhattan, KS
My name is Pat Lamb. I am a teacher at Manhattan High School in
Manhattan Kansas. In the last 25 years I have been a Chemistry,
Physics, and Biology teacher. I have a Masters in Biology and just
recently received my National Board Certification in Adolescent
and Young Adult Science. I am a Kansas Master Teacher and the 1994
Outstanding Biology Teacher of Kansas. In the last 17 years, I have
taught Accelerated Anatomy and Physiology, Genetics, Cell Biology,
Advanced Placement Biology and a Summer Field Biology class which
ended by taking students to Colorado for a week and a half.
Before I share my message on education with you, I just want to
take a moment and thank you for supporting the Nation Teacher Certification
process. Without your support, I would not have started the process.
Even with all the help that I have received, it was that hardest
thing that I have ever done. So once again I thank you for your
support.
I believe that Quality Teachers are the major reason the State
of Kansas is one of this country's leaders in education. I believe,
without a doubt, a quality teacher in a classroom will have a much
greater impact on children than any materials or equipment that
you can buy for that classroom, than any technology students can
use, or any schedule that the school will adopt.
Now, please do not misunderstand me, materials, equipment, technology, classroom
size, and schedules are tremendously important to our children's education.
However, there is absolutely nothing that will impact a student's education
more than a quality teacher.
I believe quality teachers are the reason this state is an educational leader
for this great nation. I believe to keep Kansas as one of our country's leaders
in education, we must be visionary in our efforts to obtain and retain quality
teachers.
 Greg
Mittman
Eighth grade social science teacher
Valley Center
Valley Center, KS
I am Greg Mittman and I teach 8th grade Social Studies at Valley
Center Middle School. I have a Masters degree in Special Education
and taught students with special needs for 6 years.
I am also a Major in the Kansas Army National Guard and on the City Council
in Bel Aire, a growing city of the second class in Sedgwick County. Because
of my various professional roles, I consider myself to have a somewhat unique
view on the importance of public education in Kansas.
Historically, Kansas has been one of the most progressive states in the Union.
We played a significant role in the fight to abolish slavery, curb the excessive
use of alcohol, and expand suffrage rights for our citizens. Time and time again,
Kansas has led the nation in meeting problems head on with the goal of improving
society.
Our problems today revolve around how best to get the Kansas economy moving
again and what steps must be taken to attract businesses to our state to employ
our citizens. Clearly, the quality of education provided in Kansas affects decisions
made by businesses as to whether or not they should relocate to our state.
Major factors businesses consider in relocating are the skill levels of a community's
workforce and costs associated with re-training that workforce. My students
today are the workforce of Kansas tomorrow. Their future is bright, as Kansas
consistently ranks among the top 10 nationally in all reported areas. This is
due mainly to the progressive programs implemented in Kansas public schools.
We must not loose sight of those programs, else we risk loosing quality teachers
and negatively affecting student success.
If as a state, Kansas wants to be economically viable, attract new businesses,
and create new jobs for our citizens - ladies and gentlemen - our future must
begin in our public schools.
 Vicki
Lynn O'Neil
Second grade teacher
Lincoln Elementary School
Baxter Springs, KS
My name is Vicki O'Neal. I have taught second grade for 32 years at Lincoln
School in Baxter Springs, Kansas. I have a MS in Elementary Education. I've
also taught after school tutor classes, summer school for grades 1-5, summer
science camp sessions, and Spanish-Japanese enrichment classes over our inter-distance
learning system.
I think that recruitment and retention of quality teachers is one
of the major public education issues facing us today. As one of
the "baby boomer" generation teachers, I am concerned
that over 30% of our state teaching work force is over age 50. In
my building alone, one third of the staff can retire in the next
five years.
We know that the number one factor impacting student learning is
the quality of the classroom teacher. National statistics show that
one third of all new teachers leave sometime during the first three
years.
One of the main factors listed by teachers for leaving is simply
they don't feel that they are well prepared to teach. One program
that I think shows a great deal of potential and I am encouraged
by is the Professional Development School program offered by many
universities throughout the state. This is a yearlong student teaching
internship. This program allows the students to have extensive clinical
experiences to build their teaching expertise and confidence.
I have a daughter who just graduated from the Pittsburg State University program
and this year I am serving as a PDS mentor teacher. I have been amazed how much
more knowledgeable about all aspects of teaching and self-assured these PDS
students are. It only makes sense. In a traditional student teaching program
the students see either the beginning or the middle of the school year--each
lacking in a total picture of teaching responsibilities and student growth.
The PDS program however takes the student through the entire process from beginning
to end.
 Kimberly
Ann Thomas
Fifth grade teacher
McLean Science and Technology Magnet Elementary School
Wichita, KS
My name is Kim Thomas. I teach 5th grade in the Wichita Public Schools. I have
a Master's Degree in Improvement of Curriculum and Instruction. I have received
National Board Certification in the area of Middle Childhood Generalist.
For the past two years, I have been the chairperson of the Wichita
Professional Development Council, which approves professional staff
development activities and in-service opportunities for the teachers
in the Wichita School District.
Throughout my 24-year teaching tenure in Kansas… the goal
for education in Kansas has always been to improve academic success
for ALL students. Our students need and deserve the best education
we can give. The best resource we have to continue to accomplish
this goal is our teachers. Effective school research has shown that
having a highly qualified teacher in each classroom makes the difference.
Continued support of quality professional staff development is essential to
ensure quality instruction for the students of Kansas. Teachers must stay abreast
of current educational trends and "best practices" if they are to
effectively meet the needs and learning styles of all the students in Kansas.
By providing adequate resources and investing in our teachers by having on-going,
quality professional staff development, the students of Kansas will continue
to maintain excellence in all academic areas, as well as to become productive
citizens of the state of Kansas.
 Erin
L. Vancil
Fifth grade teacher
Eisenhower Elementary School
McPherson, KS
My name is Erin Vancil from McPherson, Kansas. I teach fifth grade at Eisenhower
Elementary. I came to public school late in my life and have also served as
a preschool administrator and teacher for ten years.
Now I have a Masters Degree in Curriculum and Instruction and have taught methods
classes for a college. I teach reading, writing, and arithmetic to a wide range
of students from second grade to high school reading levels. One-third of my
class is composed of students with disabilities.
I am worried about early childhood education. We used to see lap-time,
that snuggle time, where grandparents and parents would invite the
baby or child into their arms and on their laps to share a book.
Equating those warm feelings with a book provides a powerful message.
This is the way we learn best. Some children hear tens of thousands
of words per week. Sounds wonderful, doesn't it? But other children
hear hundreds of thousands of words per week.
What does all that mean for fifth grade? After all that is the
grade I teach. Many of my students are behind, playing catch-up.
"Thing" is their favorite vocabulary word. Jacob and Sandy
in my room have average intelligence but are below grade level in
reading. I can hand them a book for independent reading, but if
they cannot read the words they cannot understand the story.
We need progressive and innovative early childhood programs. We
need all day kindergarten with open access and equal availability.
We need academic preschool programs with rich vocabulary experiences.
Just put a book in a little one's tiny hands and place a quality teacher beside
them.
 Sandra
J. Groth
Art teacher
Lakewood Elementary School
Overland Park, KS
I'm Sandy Groth and I teach elementary art in the Blue Valley District
in Overland Park. I have been teaching for 32 years; all grade levels
from preschool through college. I have a Master's degree from the
University of Kansas in Teaching and Leadership, am a consultant
for the Basic School Regional Center in Kansas City, and do staff
development with an emphasis on brain-based teaching.
I am vitally interested in success for all students and how we
measure that success. I am thinking of a former student - a beautiful
curly-haired little lady named Dalene - as hyperactive as the day
is long. As you can imagine, Dalene had a terrible time focusing
on schoolwork. She struggled to learn to read. Despite her teacher's
best efforts, her test scores only brought down the class average.
Then in 7th grade, in Dalene's words, "something just clicked".
In 1998, she earned a master's degree in special education. She
is now working in our old district as a resource teacher, helping
students learn how to read.
When we were measuring Dalene's progress in elementary school,
we never thought to measure her character, her creativity, or her
problem-solving skills. We had no standard measure for her motivation,
her perseverance, or whether or not she had a dream. Dalene is making
a real difference in the lives of students whom she truly understands.
Her standardized or high stakes testing could not have predicted
her success. In fact, such tests scores have never correlated with
future success in the real world. I hope that as we evaluate students,
and thus their schools, we find common sense ways to assess the
whole child and to nurture their special gifts.
On behalf of the Kansas Teacher of the Year Team, thank you for the time and
opportunity to share bits of our passions. We are honored to be here.
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