KSSA Talk

Mark Crawford

Superintendent USD 210

Hugoton, Kansas

Mark has worked at USD 210, Hugoton, as the district leader since July 2007.  He began his teaching career in 1987 at his hometown of Mulvane, Kansas, where he taught English Language Arts, Physical Education and coached for 12 years.  Mark received his bachelor’s degree from Southwestern College and his masters degree from Wichita State University.  In 2003, he completed his district-level certificate from Emporia State University.  Mark and his wife Keri have been married since 1986, and have three children.

Join Bill as he gets Mark’s perspective of how the Innovative Districts are helping rewrite some of the rules that govern student success and making public education more relevant.

http://traffic.libsyn.com/remarkablechatter/KSSA_37.mp3

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Beverly Mortimer

Superintendent USD 333

Concordia, Kansas

Beverly Mortimer was an elementary teacher and junior high science teacher from January 1982 until May of 1998 at Minneapolis/Delphos.

In 1998 Mortimer became building principal in USD 333 and in 2003 she became USD 333’s Superintendent.

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A few of Beverly’s accomplishments:

* Christa McAuliffe Fellow – developed a river project, Presidential Science Teaching Award and Friend of Fulbright Award to travel to Japan.

* M. Claradine Johnson Award-AdvancED, Excellence in Education Award

* KSSA Board of Directors-Member

* KS/MO Board of Directors-Member

* National Superintendents Roundtable-Member (traveled with group to China for educational study tour; and have presented to the group on Career & Tech Ed./Innovative Districts in Seattle last fall)

* Board Member for JAG-Kansas

* Vice Chair for Coalition of Innovative Districts

* Recent member of the K-12 Student Performance & Efficiency Commission

* Coordinator of NCK Honor Flight-transporting WW II Veterans to Washington DC-officially a student activity (students help raise money for Veterans to travel free & accompany the Veterans on the trip)

In this episode Bill gets Bev’s insight view of what is happening in this year’s Coalition of Innovative School Districts.

http://traffic.libsyn.com/remarkablechatter/KSSA_36.mp3

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Today on KSSA Talk Dr. Bill Hagerman talks to Dr. Steve Wyckoff about such topics as Innovative Districts and School Finance Changes.   A couple of the points of interest in the conversation were how do we transition a current funding formula to a formula that would fund schools for the success of their students and innovative districts which are an adaptive challenge rewriting the rulebook for the 21st century.

Dr. Wyckoff also brought up the question, “What is best for kids and what can we do to facilitate better learning for all students?”

Join Bill and Steve as they discuss how to be a positive voice in changes that the districts are confronting.

http://traffic.libsyn.com/remarkablechatter/KSSA_35.mp3

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Destry Brown has been an educator for 31 years.  He spent 11 years as an elementary teacher, 7 years as an elementary principal, and the last 13 years as a central office administrator.  He is currently the superintendent of schools in Pittsburg, KS, a position he has held for the last six years.

Destry received his undergraduate and graduate degrees from Pittsburg State University.  He is a native to Southeast Kansas.  He was elected President Elect of KSSA last spring and will assume the duties of President this summer.

His son, Keaton, attends college at Pittsburg State University majoring in Construction Management.  His dog, Beau, is his faithful companion at home and majors in dragging things out of the garage and chewing on things he shouldn’t.

Join  Bill and Destry as they talked about Destry’s unique vision for education in the the state of Kansas as well as the importance of continued communication.

http://traffic.libsyn.com/remarkablechatter/KSSA_34.mp3

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Noelle Ellerson

Associate Executive Director, Policy & Advocacy at AASA, The School Superintendents Association.

Ellerson is the legislative support person for the American Association of Education Service Agencies performing advocacy work for AESA. The Association of Educational Service Agencies (AESA) is a professional organization serving educational service agencies (ESAs) in 45 states with 553 agencies nationwide and hundreds of thousands of staff members. AESA is in the position to reach well over 80% of the public school districts, over 83% of the private schools, over 80% certified teachers, and more than 80% non-certified school employees, and well over 80% public and private school students.  Noelle works to advocate and advise on issues of governmental relations as well as regularly speaks on federal education policy to school leaders across the country.

Join Bill and Noelle as they discuss such items as reauthorization of ESEA, IDEA and Carl Perkins. Noelle also gives her unique perspective of progress on reauthorization of each of the previously mentioned acts.

http://traffic.libsyn.com/remarkablechatter/KSSA_33.mp3

Noelle M. Ellerson

Associate Executive Director, Policy & Advocacy

AASA: The School Superintendents Association

1615 Duke Street

Alexandria, VA 22314

Twitter: @Noellerson

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Chery Semmel of USA Kansas rejoins Bill Hagerman for another podcast. Topics in this podcast centered on the Efficiency Committee’s recommendations and Dr. Randy Watson’s selection as Kansas Superintendent of the Year and  Kansas Commissioner of Education.  Cheryl’s closing comments focused on moving forward during the next several months.

 

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Semmel currently serves as the executive director for USA Kansas and the Kansas School Superintendents’ Association (KSSA).   She is often invited to guest lecture on the “Politics of P-20 education” and volunteers as a mentor for high school students.  In 2009, Semmel volunteered as an international elections observer during the presidential elections in El Salvador and Bolivia.

http://traffic.libsyn.com/remarkablechatter/KSSA_32.mp3

United School Administrators of Kansas and Kansas School Superintendents’ Association

 

Cheryl L. Semmel

Executive Director

United School Administrators of Kansas (USA|Kansas)

515 S. Kansas Avenue, Suite 201

Topeka, Kansas 66603

785.232.6566 office

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Dr. Randy Watson joins KSSA Talk to discuss his recent selection as the Kansas Superintendent of the Year, and an even bigger announcement that he has been selected as the Kansas Commissioner of Education. He reflects on those who encouraged him along the way in his career, and his vision going forward, for education in Kansas.

Dr. Randy Watson has been superintendent in McPherson since 2005, having served as Assistant Superintendent of Instruction in the district before that. In 2011, McPherson became the first school district in the nation to receive a waiver from No Child Left Behind, allowing the district to use ACT assessment for 6th to 12th grades. The waiver allowed McPherson to fully implement their C3 – Citizenship, College and Career Readiness plan.

Earlier this year, Watson was named chair of the Kansas Coalition of Innovative School Districts following approval of their application for the new program. More recently, Watson was named a finalist for 2015 Kansas Superintendent of the Year.

Watson is a member of the American Association of School Administrators, the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (national and state), the Kansas-Missouri Superintendent Forum and Mid-America Association of Superintendents. He is past-president of the Kansas School Superintendents’ Association and a former United School Administrators of Kansas board member.

He earned his bachelor’s degree, master’s and doctorate degrees from Kansas State University. In 2003, the University Council for Educational Administration honored him with its Excellence in Educational Leadership Award.

http://traffic.libsyn.com/remarkablechatter/kssa_31.mp3

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Dr. Watson was the guest speaker at the November Kansas Superintendents meeting held at ESSDACK. Check out the video below to hear Dr. Watson’s thoughts on “The Future”.

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Mr. Gibson joined the Valley Center administrative team in July of 2012. He has worked in a wide variety of positions within schools since 1992. Experiences include that of a custodian, para-educator, substitute teacher, teacher, counselor, principal, assistant superintendent, and superintendent.  Prior to joining the Valley Center School District, he served as the superintendent of the Halstead-Bentley School District.

His education includes a Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education, a Master’s Degree in Building Level Leadership, and an Educational Specialist Degree in District Level Leadership from Pittsburg State University.  He is currently completing doctoral studies at the University of Arkansas.

Cory will be discussing a new Google Community that has been set up for superintendents to use, for all sorts of discussions. He and the KSSA Communications Committee have created a way for quick and timely discussions to take place around any topic or issue. 

http://traffic.libsyn.com/remarkablechatter/KSSA_30.mp3

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Dr. Diane DeBacker, Kanas Commissioner of Education, has been working in education for the past 32 years. In addition to a bachelor’s degree in education, Dr. DeBacker holds a Master’s of Education in curriculum and instruction, an Educational Administration Certification, district level certification and a Doctorate of Educational Administration and Leadership.

Her varied experience includes classroom instruction at the high school and university levels and four years as a member of a local board of education.  She has been an administrator at the building and district levels and has been with the State Department of Education a total of 11 years, serving as Director of School Improvement and Accreditation and also Deputy Commissioner of the Division of Learning and Innovative Services.

Dr. DeBacker served for nearly a year as the Interim Commissioner of Education before being named Commissioner by the Kansas State Board of Education in September 2010. As the State’s chief education officer, she provides leadership to the Kansas State Department of Education in carrying out the policies and programs prescribed by the State Board of Education, to ensure the necessary oversight and support is provided to assist Kansas schools, educators and students in achieving their goals.

Throughout her career, Dr. DeBacker has been sought out by schools, districts, education organizations and others for her educational insights as well as her clear thinking around the issues and challenges facing policy makers, educators and students.

http://traffic.libsyn.com/remarkablechatter/KSSA_29.mp3

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The Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools (KCKPS) has a history of excellence in leadership. Since its formation in 1844, only 12 superintendents have served at its helm. Dr. Cynthia Lane took her position as superintendent in July 2010.

Lane has more than 30 years of professional experience in the educational realm, including 25 years in Kansas City, Kansas. In KCKPS, she has served as a special education teacher, a principal, and director of the Wyandotte Comprehensive Special Education Cooperative. Before being named superintendent, she served as assistant superintendent for instruction and business.

Being the voice for 20,000 students and the mentor for 3,300 staff is not an appointment she has taken lightly. Her charge remains to see the community transformed by the important work going on in KCKPS.

Giving kids hope is what being an educator is all about, and that’s what initially led her to a career in the field.

Growing up in southeast Kansas in the city of Parsons, Lane’s parents instilled in her the importance of hard work through their examples. She also was influenced by the positive and loving characteristics of her grandmother and her aunt Thelma.

Her time as a volunteer at the Parson’s State Hospital gave her a sense of self-worth and taught her about the importance of helping others. It set the stage for her later years in the field of special education.

While she is proud to be the 12th leader of the Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools, she is also humbled. What makes her happiest is seeing the success of others and she’s eager to lead the way, not by walking in front of others, but by walking beside them and giving them support.

One of her favorite quotes comes from the great Chinese philosopher Lao-tsu who said, “When the best leader’s work is done, the people will say, ‘We did it ourselves.'”

When this happens, she knows she will have achieved success.

http://traffic.libsyn.com/remarkablechatter/KSSA_28.mp3

The above information was taken from KCKPS. 

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