Jeff Baxter... 2014 Kansas Teacher of the Year
The 2014 Kansas Teacher of the Year is Jeff Baxter, an English Language Arts teacher at Leavenworth High School in Leavenworth.
The ulterior motive for the first several weeks of Jeff's classes is building trust. Jeff believes that if students trust him to select material and make assignments that are going to nurture and challenge them, then education can take place.
Students know Jeff cares deeply about them. Beyond the classroom and the school, he cares about them. Beyond learning good sentence and paragraph structure, beyond identifying rhetorical devices and strategies, Jeff wants his students to know he cares about them becoming productive members of society and lifelong learners.
Jeff says, "I still believe that the best of life begins with a rising sun, that all teaching – whether to your grandchild or a student – is about modeling skill and behavior, and that America’s best hope is nothing less than the relationship between a teacher and a student – a relationship that is no less fiduciary than a doctor/patient or priest/penitent. I believe that messes turn into miracles, that students must, as Teddy Roosevelt encouraged, approach life “daring greatly.” It is our role as teachers to catch them when they stumble, encourage them when they cry, and celebrate with them when they triumph. I believe that if every student had that kind of relationship with every teacher, the United States would rank at the top of the world’s education systems."
The ulterior motive for the first several weeks of Jeff's classes is building trust. Jeff believes that if students trust him to select material and make assignments that are going to nurture and challenge them, then education can take place.
Students know Jeff cares deeply about them. Beyond the classroom and the school, he cares about them. Beyond learning good sentence and paragraph structure, beyond identifying rhetorical devices and strategies, Jeff wants his students to know he cares about them becoming productive members of society and lifelong learners.
Jeff says, "I still believe that the best of life begins with a rising sun, that all teaching – whether to your grandchild or a student – is about modeling skill and behavior, and that America’s best hope is nothing less than the relationship between a teacher and a student – a relationship that is no less fiduciary than a doctor/patient or priest/penitent. I believe that messes turn into miracles, that students must, as Teddy Roosevelt encouraged, approach life “daring greatly.” It is our role as teachers to catch them when they stumble, encourage them when they cry, and celebrate with them when they triumph. I believe that if every student had that kind of relationship with every teacher, the United States would rank at the top of the world’s education systems."
