KSDE Newsroom

Already a life-long advocate of teachers and the teaching profession, Liz Anstine knew when her name was called as the 2025 Kansas Teacher of the Year, the real work was about to begin.  

“At that moment, I thought, ‘Well, here we go. I need to keep advocating.’” 

The Leavenworth High School business teacher was chosen from a field of eight regional finalists on Sept. 28, in Wichita.  

“I think I was picked for a reason,” Anstine said when reflecting on the moment when Kansas Education Commissioner Randy Watson and 2024 KTOY Taylor Bussinger announced she would be the next Kansas Teacher of the Year. “I didn’t come from privilege. I wasn’t always recognized even when I worked hard. I’ve never had this experience, not even in the corporate world.”  

Members of the Kansas State Board of Education will receive the Kansas State Department of Education’s 2023-24 annual report from Education Commissioner Randy Watson during their October meeting, Oct. 8-9, in Topeka.  

Dr. Watson will highlight Kansas education accomplishments, including the spring 2024 state assessments. He also will update board members on progress made on the Kansans Can outcomes of kindergarten readiness, social-emotional growth, civic engagement, individual plans of study (IPS), academically prepared for postsecondary, graduation and postsecondary success. 

If you were to walk the halls of Berryton Elementary School in Shawnee Heights Unified School District 450 on a special day or near a holiday, you may find someone in a Cat in the Hat or Santa Claus costume.  

The man behind the costume is likely head custodian Austin Smith. 

Smith has been a custodian for about 18 years, working in USD 450 for 11 years.  

He started doing it as an after-school job in high school, then continued it through college while he got his associate’s degree from Washburn University, in Topeka. 

“I really like the changes from the immediate gratification of dirty to clean, not shiny to shiny,” he said. “That instant gratification does it for me.” 

Four Kansas elementary schools were named 2024 National Blue Ribbon Schools, U.S. Secretary of Education Dr. Miguel Cardona announced Monday, Sept. 23. 

The schools are part of 356 schools across the country that are part of this year’s National Blue Ribbon cohort. The following Kansas schools were recognized in the Exemplary High Performing Schools category: 
 

• Sunflower Elementary School, Paola USD 368 
• Garfield Elementary School, Augusta USD 402 
• Lincoln Elementary School, Geary County USD 475 
• Herington Elementary School, Herington USD 487 

Like many of her classmates, Reagan McDonald is going on college visits and making the most of her senior year in high school as an athlete and leader. But this Clay County Community High School student is also making it her mission to address the root causes of why several of her peers committed suicide in a short period of time in 2023.  

“You can’t just address the problem, you have to address why the problem is going on,” McDonald said. “It’s important that we break the stigma.” 

Members of the Blue-Ribbon Task Force on Student Screen Time have met four times to date, reviewing research and discussing the issues that will form the basis for a recommended policy regarding the non-academic use of cell phones and other technology by Pre-K-12 Kansas students.

The 36-member task force, appointed by the Kansas State Board of Education in July, is focusing on the following areas: 

• Use of personal devices in schools 
• Parental oversight of district-issued devices 
• Screen time and mental health 

Members of the task force include students, classroom teachers, administrators, two legislators, and two members of the state board.

Members of the Kansas State Board of Education received an update during their September meeting on what districts will have to include in their at-risk accountability plans, the at-risk pilot initiative and the status of the list of evidence-based programs.     

The Kansas State Department of Education’s teacher licensure program has recently made some updates to a frequently asked questions (FAQ) fact sheet for the licensure literacy requirement that will go into effect in 2028. 

Those updates are as follows: 

• Elementary is defined as grades Pre-K-6. 
• The Certificate of Mastery is specified as the type of certificate educators must receive to complete LETRS® training. 
• Information about additional training providers has been updated to include links to their websites and a list of the training options the provider offered. 

As part of a social studies methods class to learn how to teach content that involves history and military service, Washburn University hosted a group of veterans and education majors during an event on the Topeka school’s campus this past week. 

“Our veterans get to tell their stories and our students get to listen to those stories,” said Cherry Steffen, a professor of education and chair of the Washburn University School of Applied Studies. “It’s ‘let me hear your voice and what message should I be sharing with my students?’” 

Members of the Kansas State Board of Education will consider approving American Sign Language (ASL) as part of the higher education educator preparation standards for Pre-K-12 world languages during their monthly meeting, Sept. 10-11, in Topeka. 

A committee of ASL educators and world languages educators convened to review the world languages preparation standards and revise them to include features of ASL, such as expanding references to speaking to include signing, and identifying a minimum proficiency level for ASL educators. This was after the Kansas State Department of Education (KSDE) received inquiries from an ASL task force about Pre-K-12 ASL teacher qualifications as a content area for which the KSDE teacher licensure program didn’t have an established license.