District food staff serves up nutritious cooking lesson

Before the holidays brought visions of sugar plums to student minds, district food and nutrition staff members paid a special visit to Timber Creek Elementary School.

Those staff members brought with them a cooking lesson to remind students that even though a few treats are OK, it is more important to eat healthy foods.

“We hope that if we can encourage them in elementary school it will help encourage them to make wise choices throughout their lives,” Cecelia Harris, Food Service site supervisor, said.

Shawnee Mission educator is Kansas Teacher of the Year

Shawnee Mission West High School foreign language teacher Karen Tritt is the 2010 Kansas Teacher of the Year. Tritt was named the winner during a ceremony held Saturday in Wichita attended by 450 education officials, corporate leaders and policy makers.

“I am pleased and honored to present this award to Karen Tritt,” said Interim Kansas Department of Education Commissioner Diane DeBacker. “Her enthusiasm for learning and her passion for teaching are evident in the positive environment she has created not only in her classroom but also in her district and community.”

Tritt will work with the eight finalists in the statewide competition to advocate for education and teaching. She said good teachers are committed to students, highly motivational and always learning.

College to hold special hearing

Johnson County Community College will hold a hearing at 5 p.m. on  Dec. 10 in the board room in the general education building on campus, College Boulevard and Quivira Road,  regarding an amendment to the budget.

College launches Kansas Studies Institute

For nearly five years, the state travel and tourism division has proclaimed Kansas is “As Big as You Think.”

Even so, many in Johnson County have yet to learn about the diversity and complexity of the state. Johnson County Community College launched the Kansas Studies Institute this fall to give interested individuals the opportunity to learn and discover more about the Sunflower State, said director of the institute and associate professor of history James Leiker.

The creation of the institute is a “natural outgrowth” of Kansas-related learning opportunities that have been offered at the college for years, he said.

“Out of that came the awareness that there was an interest among our students, faculty and in the community about creating a better knowledge in Johnson County and JCCC in particular about Kansas,” he said.

Teacher forms tutoring program for local homeless students

“I tell my students, ‘find a spot where you can concentrate,’ and they didn’t have that,” Wertin said. “I tell them, ‘find a table or desk to sit at,’ and they didn’t have that.”

The rooms homeless students live in only have space for a bathroom and two sets of bunk beds. Wertin started to think about parents who share those spaces with them. They are working to get a job, put food on the table and find a place to live.

“I thought, ‘Who was helping them with their homework?’” Wertin said. “It was eye-opening to me… I wanted to start the program that could help kids feel positive about school and education at a time their families are concentrating on bigger issues.”

Fired middle school science teacher plans appeal

Ryan Haraughty will appeal the Shawnee Mission School Board’s decision to fire him from his position as a middle school teacher.

“We are planning our defense and hoping people are fair and impartial because I don’t think that has completely been the case thus far,” Haraughty said.

The Shawnee Mission School Board voted Nov. 9 to terminate Haraughty from his position as a Mission Valley Middle School science teacher, citing “repeated use of sexual innuendo and sexual banter in the presence of students” and “creating and permitting a sexually hostile environment at school.”

Several hundred people attended the Nov. 9 meeting and a number of students and parents spoke in Haraughty’s defense. During a question and answer session led by Superintendent Gene Johnson and Shawnee Mission East area board member Donna Bysfield on Nov. 17, several parents and students continued to request that the board reverse the decision and reinstate Haraughty.