Three first-year educators from Wichita State were recently recognized by the Kansas Department of Education (KSDE) for their outstanding teaching skills through the 2022 Kansas Horizon Award program.

The Kansas Horizon Award program, sponsored by KSDE, gives all school districts in the state an opportunity to nominate one elementary and one secondary teacher for the award. To be eligible for the award, teachers must have completed their first year of teaching and have performed in such a way as to distinguish themselves as outstanding.

The following WSU educators were recognized by KSDE for 2022:

• Kynnedy Myers: Myers graduated from WSU’s Teacher Apprentice Program™ (TAP) in 2020 and teaches at Ewalt Elementary School, Augusta USD 402.
• Emily Crawford: Crawford will graduate from TAP in spring 2022 and teaches at Northridge Elementary School, Newton USD 373. Crawford has been teaching in the classroom on the limited apprentice license TAP candidates receive through the program.
• Nicole Menard teaches at Buhler High School, Buhler USD 313, and is a 2020 graduate of WSU’s English Education program.

TAP is an online bachelor of arts in early childhood education and elementary education at WSU. The program prepares candidates for licensure as a Kansas teacher with a flexible program of study, specially designed for paraeducators to earn their bachelor of arts in Early Childhood Unified/elementary Education so that they can become the classroom teacher of record in a shortened time.