Feature Story

Jeff Yearout brings conceptual thinking into his classroom at Derby High School, Derby Unified School District 260, helping students think beyond the surface. 

Yearout has taught computer science, web design and computer graphics at Derby High School since 2016. He is the only computer science teacher at the school. 

“It’s harder, of course, if I’m taking on something new that I haven’t done before and have no built curriculum to look from,” he said. “But I’m constantly recrafting things I’ve done before to adjust it and make it better for students.” 

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. 

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 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.

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.