Fifth grade teacher Kristen Anderson lives by a motto: “your students don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” 

Anderson, who teaches at North Fairview Elementary in the USD 345 Seaman school district, believes that success in the classroom relies on building bonds and setting boundaries early.

“Once that trust and relationship is established and students know that you truly care, the learning falls in place,” she wrote. “In that moment behaviors decrease and student engagement increases.”

Part of Anderson’s teaching philosophy is preparing students for the 21st century. Students should be active participants in the learning process, not solely lectured by their teachers. Teachers should step out of their comfort zones, she wrote. She recalled a social studies lesson that was highly effective in her classroom, taking learning from the textbook and bringing it to life for the students. The lesson centered around the 13 colonies. Each group of students had to come up with a plan to attract colonists to live in their colonial region by hosting a colonial regional fair. Each group created a booth.

“Since many of my students had never been to a fair, they started out by learning what a fair was,” she wrote. “On the day of the fair their classmates, ‘other colonists’ visited the booths. These visitors learned about the region while trying to be persuaded to settle in the area. By putting the knowledge in student hands, they were able to learn from one another.”

This project-based learning module had a vast impact on her students. 

“If I would have only used a textbook to learn I would have felt bored and trapped,” one student wrote. “Project Based Learning gives us a chance to research and teach others about it, and then in return they teach us.”

Anderson’s teaching also extends outside the classroom and into the community. She strives to build relationships not only with the students, but families, business owners and community members. 

“Without a doubt relationships matter,” she wrote. “When teachers, students and families work together, great things happen.”

A parent of two of Anderson’s former students wrote that Anderson had a far-reaching impact on her students, especially during and after COVID-19.

“Mrs. Anderson was amazing, resilient, patient and understanding as we all navigated the online classroom setting and finished the school year under unprecedented circumstances,” the parent wrote. “She assured the students were supported, engaged and loved during such an unsettling time.”

Kirstin Bangerter’s classroom is a palace where she gets to be queen, setting the ideal culture of learning and empowering her students. As an ELA teacher and Interventionist, Bangerter focuses on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs when it comes to educating her students.

“Students must feel a sense of security and belonging before they can learn, so my classroom is a place of peace and safety, and I focus on each student needs,” Bangerter wrote. “Lamps light the room, and twinkle lights decorate trees and plants. Posters, photographs, comfortable beanbags, and music playing softly add to the atmosphere.”

Bangerter, who has taught in Dodge City since 1993, started teaching at the elementary level and then in 2002 began teaching at the high school level. There, she found her palace.

“Just off the main hallway underneath the grand staircase lies ‘The Palace’ — my classroom,” she wrote. “I teach year-long English intervention classes, where we study the traditional English curriculum along with reading comprehension and fluency.”

Bangerter focuses on establishing a community in the first couple of weeks of the school year before diving into the curriculum. Together, the learning community establishes expectations, procedures and how they will hold each other accountable respectfully. 

“If someone disrupts teaching or learning, that person is asked to write about how their actions affected the community, and then is immediately forgiven and free to do better next time,” she wrote. “This grace has been incredibly powerful in curbing low-level, disruptive behavior in The Palace.”

Over the years, Bangerter has had a powerful impact on her students’ lives. One student wrote that Bangerter fostered a love of reading and that she truly makes students feel seen.

“She believed in us, and we felt it,” the student wrote. “She noticed us, listened to us, and acknowledged our successes, both big and small. For me, and I’m sure many others, this positive attention was effective and meaningful. This recognition encouraged leadership and good decision making.”

Bangerter’s reach extends beyond the classroom. She participates in many outreach activities, including sponsoring several clubs through the high school that support students. She also sponsored European educational tours for DCHS students.

“The impact from these trips cannot be measured; students grow their minds and hearts exponentially as they begin to see how all of our cultures are connected,” she wrote. “I count it a privilege to watch a nervous, quivering young traveler evolve into a bold adventurer, casually strolling past airport monitors to check times and gate numbers, hailing a cab, riding a metro, and navigating all manner of terminals and transportation with ease.”

The backbone of 2023 Kansas Master Teacher Jerald “Jerry” Braun’s teaching philosophy is an old Chinese proverb: “tell me, and I’ll forget. Show me, and I’ll remember. Involve me, and I’ll understand.”

“For me, all education is based on the belief that the only way to learn is to do,” Braun wrote. “In the classroom, I strive for students to experience learning, not just regurgitate knowledge.”  

One such activity included a unit aimed at building long-term relationships. Students learn about themselves through personality traits, learning styles and intelligences, while learning how to interact productively. Though several activities, students explore mental mindsets and physical functionality of brains.

“We further our study to include genetics and how DNA creates our physical traits,” he wrote. “We wrap up the semester by studying genealogy and the people who came before. Students get to see that family is more than DNA; it is what shapes who they are.”

Braun is seen by his education peers as possessing a “superpower in his ability to create and facilitate relationships,” spending quality time with his students to understand them as an individual and meet their educational needs. He is intentional in the way he builds relationships with students both inside and outside the classroom through involving students in service activities and involving their families in the learning process. 

“Building personal connections with students outside of the content area allows them to see me as a real person who cares about their whole being, not just their math grade,” he wrote. 

Braun credits his passion for lifelong learning and education to his development of innovative teaching techniques. He always strives to attend trainings to learn more about his profession. That hard work paid off. As he developed new ways to teach, his students succeeded. As his students succeeded, he gained confidence. This led to new teachers coming to him for advice and to a career in not only service to students, but also service of other teachers. 

Shauna Zweifel, assistant principal at Hays Middle School mentored under Braun as a student teacher and attested to his commitment to his students and the teaching profession.

“Under his leadership, I learned what it means to give your all to a career,” Zweifel wrote. “Jerry was always coming up with new ideas and never settled for keeping things the same from year to year because it was easy.”

Matthew “Matt” Christensen’s fifth hour American History class is much more than its title. It’s an inclusive, fun learning environment that brings history to life for students at Blue Valley Southwest High School.

“What students don't know is that the true description of my class should read, ‘fifth hour American History is an inclusive, active place where we will have fun. You will learn the stories and events, organization and processes of American history and government while growing as a learner and applying your understanding to big questions. You will connect important ideas to your life today to help you grow as a person through the rest of your life,’ Christensen wrote.

But before Christensen dives into the subject matter, he takes time to listen to his students and determine their needs. If students are hungry or tired, they can’t learn as well, he wrote. So, he takes the extra time to listen and then the class works to move forward with the subject matter.

“I must continually adapt and make necessary changes to my instruction to help each student be ready to learn and ultimately be successful,” he wrote. 

Connecting his students with the community is another critical aspect of history lessons in Christensen’s classroom. Community members frequently visit his classroom to connect history with present-day. 

“I find it so powerful to watch that exchange between the community and my students,” he wrote. “I believe it helps students to appreciate what might be in their future and helps the community to see how important these students will be to the future of us all.”

Christensen also takes students on field trips to learn about the history they are studying. They visit the National World War I Museum and the National Archives in Kansas City. They also interview veterans about their experiences. This ties into a lesson he created with the central question: how should Kansas City be remembered for its support of the World Wars? Students spent two days traveling to sites in Kansas City.

“My students pored over pictures of the history of munition production in Kansas,” Christensen wrote. “I watched as the students came to appreciate and were proud of the sacrifice midwestern people had made. Each day we connected this new information to the material they were learning, through their individual study at home and through a series of formative assessments.”

The impact of Christensen’s teaching skills are evident in the words of one of his former students, who graduated from Blue Valley Northwest High School in 2018. 

“He has a true gift of making even the most mundane of content exciting to learn about, and the result of this trait was a genuine desire among students to attend and stay engaged during class,” the student wrote. “… I never failed to find a personal cheerleader in Mr. Christensen.”

In Fort Riley Middle School teacher Melissa Hall’s classroom, students select the topics they will pursue, creating an atmosphere of uniqueness for each student and the fearless pursuit of learning. 

“My teaching philosophy focuses on the fact that all children are special, and it is my responsibility to provide them with a safe and inviting atmosphere,” Hall wrote. “… Students can develop to be their best self, try new things without fear of failure, grow and learn from their failures and develop a desire to be lifelong learners.”

Hall integrates this philosophy into the classroom by actively involving the sixth through eighth grade students she teaches in the learning process. Students work in groups and engage in Project Based Learning while pursuing individualized learning pathways. This allows students to take ownership of their learning and they are provided with tools and resources along their journey. It’s also important to prepare students for life beyond middle school, high school and post-secondary education. 

“I give students opportunities to mirror real life/post-secondary education, which helps them be prepared to enter the world as productive members of society.”

To be able to provide her students with meaningful educational experiences, Hall must continue to learn herself, she wrote. She achieves this through classes, trainings and outreach opportunities she has created and been involved with. She participates in club activities, which allows her to learn from the students. 

“Activity clubs and extracurricular activities is a place where I see that students can thrive academically, socially, emotionally and follow their paths of interest,” she wrote. “When students come to me looking for a (club) sponsor, I jump at the chance. This often gives me a chance to learn from students while I provide them a place to thrive.”

Being involved at the extracurricular level can also transform the classroom experience for students, building relationships that carry back into the classroom. Positive relationships with students also happen in the hallways, Hall wrote.
“Every morning, passing period and end of day, I am in the hallway interacting with students trying to build relationships that can lead an openness for learning and showing that I care,” she wrote, adding that one of the challenges to teaching is meeting students where they are at both academically and personally. Having one-on-one interactions in a variety of settings helps address this challenge. “Every year there are new layers added to the complexity of students. My personal goal throughout my career as a teacher is to constantly take the steps necessary to do the best I can for the students.”

And those efforts translate into meaningful, lasting impact on students. In the words of one of Hall’s students, she cares for her students like her own children. 

“She is an amazing teacher because she always gives you a chance,” the student wrote. “She shows me that no matter what, anything is possible.

Physical science teacher Martha MacKay always knew she loved science and wanted to teach. One of her earliest memories of Christmas was asking Santa for a microscope and dissecting kit because she was curious what was in water and what bugs were made of. 

“As a child, I was performing experiences to satisfy my curiosity about how the world works,” she wrote. “My passion for teaching (and learning) developed early as I would teach anyone or anything that would listen to me about what I learned in school that day.”

MacKay wrote that she would corner her parents anywhere and insist they listen and learn from what she was teaching them. That passion for teaching and learning remains today and translates into her classroom at Emporia High School. 

“My passion hooks my students, and they remain engaged throughout the course,” she wrote. “Education is much larger than one teacher and one student. … I must develop positive, trusting and authentic relationships with my students because they have to buy in before learning can truly happen.”

To achieve this buy-in to learning, MacKay fosters a safe classroom space where students are free to share their thoughts and explore their skills without fear of being judged. She tailors the curriculum to not only each individual class, but also each individual student by using her deep knowledge of the subject and teaching practices. She shared an honors physical science lesson for 9th graders that she recently facilitated. Through hands-on, engaged learning in small groups, students were able e to create, diagram, analyze and explain how and why ionic bonds form. Her students are free in this lesson and others, to learn by trial and error. 

“They are safe to be uncomfortable and challenge themselves to engage in learning activities that many have never done before, such as giving class presentations, participating in debates and creating educational videos to teach others,” she wrote. “… They earn their success and have ownership and price over their accomplishments.” 

MacKay is described by her peers as always looking for new and innovative ways to teach and incorporating the lessons shared by other teachers. She also engages in professional development, sharing her knowledge with her peers. 

“Not only has she continued to develop her own pedagogy through these opportunities, but she is also excited to share what she has learned both in our department and throughout the entire school during professional development,” wrote Matt Irby, 2018 Kansas Master Teacher.  “Martha realizes how much she has benefited from learning from other educators and is passionate about sharing her professional strategies with others as well.” 

A parent of one of MacKay’s students praised her teaching abilities in AP Chemistry. 

“When my daughter enrolled in AP Chemistry, I was concerned about her ability to be successful in that academically challenging class,” the parent wrote. “But she had learned from so many people that you want to have Mrs. MacKay that she embraced the challenge and enrolled.”

When Chanute kindergarten teacher Maggie Wolken turns her classroom into a construction zone, her students don’t know it, but they are learning hands-on through creative play. 

Wolken begins her construction zone lesson with the book “What Can You Do with a Toolbox?” by John Colaneri and Antony Carrino. Students not only learn to recall information from the book, they also hone their fine motor skills through play stations around the classroom. 

“This was so much fun,” Wolken wrote. “Play-based learning allows me time to watch the children create with their hands and assess skills through real-life situations.”

While active learning is important for students, Wolken wrote that her number one role is to love her students. 

“I hope that each day in some way I can show my students that I love them and believe in them,” she wrote. “Building a relationship with each child who enters my classroom and earning their trust and respect is essential.”

Community involvement also is critical for students, Wolken wrote. She creates ways for her students to become involved in community engagement, which enhances the learning environment. This includes meeting with families and inviting community members into the classroom to read a book to the class.

“My students look forward to meeting the Kiwanis member in the fall and seeing them again in the spring,” she wrote. “This gentleman treats each student as if they were his grandchildren.”

Her class also has visited Pizza Hut to make their own pizza, where they were able to use math skills to measure ingredients as well as using social skills while out in the community. Other fields trips included trips to a farm and supermarket. 

“By providing opportunities for my students to get out into the community or inviting members of our community to my classroom, I am reaching my goal of challenging my students daily with meaningful, engaging and purposeful learning,” she wrote. 

Wolken is described by her peers and parents as a leader and mentor at her school. Through her willingness to step up and mentor others, she is making an impact on those around her. 

“She is a wonderful mentor to the newer teachers and is always willing to guide them in any way she can,” wrote Lindsey Peter, Chanute Elementary kindergarten teacher. “She provides our kindergarten team with leadership and consistency. She is not afraid to dig deep into our data and make difficult decisions to better serve our students.”