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 As the daughter of a former elementary school teacher, Adlyn Mieras, a senior at Blue Valley West High School, said she’s known from a young age she’s wanted to be a teacher because, as a student, she has “wanted to learn all the time.”  

“I felt being a teacher and helping others to find that similar passion for learning is something that I’ve always wanted to do,” she said. “I want to be a teacher for a long time.” 

Mieras and dozens of other Kansas high school students attended the northeast Kansas regional Educators Rising conference earlier this month where they competed in categories including lesson planning and teaching, TED talks, children’s literature, impromptu speaking and interviewing. 

Imagine being escorted to your first day at a brand-new school not by your parents, but U.S. marshals, as a crowd of protesters chant and point at you, angry  you are now attending this school. You are the only student in your classroom. No other children are with you, and you’re not allowed to join them at lunch or at recess. 

That is what Ruby Bridges went through 64 years ago.  

On the anniversary of this historic day, dozens of Topeka area middle and high school students joined the civil rights icon on Thursday, Nov. 14, for an in-person “fireside chat” at Washburn University, in Topeka, to celebrate “Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day”, a symbolic walk of unity and strength. Her appearance comes as the 70th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education is also celebrated. 

For nearly 20 years, fostering a love for reading with the youngest of Kansans has been promoted each November through the “Kansas Reads to Preschoolers” program. 

“Early literacy is so important,” said Nikki Hansen, resource sharing librarian for the State Library of Kansas. “Preschoolers, they may not be reading yet, but with having books in the home, having a parent or guardian reading to them, it increases their vocabulary, it increases their readiness for kindergarten. Having someone read to them just encourages a love of reading in themselves.” 

Members of the Kansas State Board of Education received a final set of recommendations during their November meeting that will serve as guidance for school districts’ policies regarding students’ use of digital technology. 

Ava Gustin, a senior at Mission Valley High School, Mission Valley USD 330, and Brian Houghton, principal of Fredonia Jr.-Sr. High School, Fredonia USD 484, co-chairs of the Blue Ribbon Task Force on Student Screen Time (pictured above), outlined the recommendations that address the following topics chosen by the State Board:

• Students' personal device use in school;  
• Screen time and mental health; and  
• Parental oversight of district-owned devices.  

Members of the Kansas State Board of Education will receive a set of recommendations from the Blue-Ribbon Task Force on Student Screen Time during their monthly meeting, Nov. 12-13, in Topeka. 

The 36-member task force, comprised of students, teachers, administrators, parents, legislators and state board members Melanie Haas and Danny Zeck, have been meeting since August. They’ve shared and discussed information to formulate recommendations for the following three areas: 

• Students' personal device use in school; 
• Screen time and mental health; and 
• Parental oversight of district-owned devices. 

The interdisciplinary aspects and connectedness of STEAM are what Dr. Lindsay King believes help students develop critical thinking skills and resilience. 

“I think the best part about STEAM is that it brings people together to solve a problem,” said King, director of college and career readiness at Maize Unified School District 266. “Regardless of what problems you’ll be solving in the future, you’re always going to benefit from working together with a team and handle setbacks. This is the vehicle in which we are practicing that skill.”  

National STEM/STEAM Day is Friday, Nov. 8, which celebrates science, technology, engineering, (art) and mathematics. These subjects are woven into Career and Technical Education (CTE) courses which improve students’ college and career readiness, play a powerful role in preventing students from dropping out, and provide a variety of opportunities for postsecondary success and employment.  

The 2024 KSDE Great Ideas in Education Conference: “Lighting the Path Forward” provided educators across Kansas a deeper dive into structured literacy, high quality instruction, and data-driven strategies, to name just a few of the topics covered during the three-day event, held Oct. 23-25, in Wichita. 

Chris Perry, co-founder and executive director of Cultivate Education, LLC, delivered the keynote address, focusing on the art and science of effective implementation. He cited research showing only 33% of educational initiatives and programs are successfully implemented and achieve their stated goals. He said implementation can be difficult, especially when it requires more staff and resources to sustain an initiative.  

The Blue-Ribbon Task Force on Student Screen Time held its 11th meeting on Wednesday, Oct. 30 with the focus on finalizing recommendations regarding parental oversight of district-owned devices.  

The purpose of these task force meetings has been to develop guidance/recommendations, based in research, on the following topics: 

• Students' personal device use in school, 
• Screen time and mental health; and 
• Parental oversight of district-owned devices. 

The task force voted on the remaining set of recommendations which will be drafted into the final report presented to the board in November.

Todd Wollard believes he has found the winning recipe for success for his district’s food service program. He starts with a generous amount of treating students as customers and combines it with equal parts love, creativity and common sense.  

“Our entire goal is to do what’s best for our students,” said Wollard, food service and human resources coordinator for Prairie View Unified School District 362. “They deserve to get quality meals.” 

Kansas educators and administrators gathered in Wichita on Wednesday, Oct. 23, for the first day of the 2024 Kansas State Department of Education’s Great Ideas in Education Conference: Lighting the Path Forward. 

The conference, scheduled for Oct. 23-25, in Wichita, focuses on the tools necessary to strengthen school improvement efforts to support each Kansas student. Through professional development and networking opportunities, the conference helps educators and school personnel improve policies and strategies to create safe learning environments and quality teaching and learning practices for each student.