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Teacher gets national recognition PDF Print E-mail
Education
Written by Bob Harrington   
Wednesday, 24 June 2009 07:00
Ken Bingman, a Miami County resident for 40 years, was inducted into the National Teachers Hall of Fame on Friday night at Emporia State University.

He is only the seventh Kansan — the first from Miami County — to receive the honor in the 18-year history of the National Teachers Hall of Fame headquartered at Emporia. He also is a member of the Kansas Teachers Hall of Fame and is a Kansas Master Teacher.

Bingman and his wife, Mary, live on their farm on the north side of Hillsdale Lake. He has been a teacher for 46 years. He began his classroom instructions in 1963 teaching grades 10 through 12 at Wyandotte High School in Kansas City, Kan. He moved on to teaching the same grades at Shawnee Mission West High School in 1967 and retired from there in 2001.

Unable to stay out of the classroom, Bingman has been teaching grades 9 through 12 since 2001 at Blue Valley West High School in Overland Park, where he has been the science department chairman for the past three years. His classroom instruction covers biology, honors biology I and II, biology skills, AP (advanced placement) biology, college now biology II, science independent study. He is a biology/chemistry tutor, too.

Bingman has garnered a room full of educational honors and recognitions, including being the recipient in 1999 of the Fulbright Memorial Fund Award, which included a three week all-expenses paid to trip to work with administrators, teachers and students in Japan. His summer educational teaching and travel internationally includes the St. Jude’s School in Tanzania, Africa; schools in Fiji, New Zealand and Australia; and leading delegations of students to England, Ireland, Wales, eastern Australia, Hawaii, Scotland, New Zealand, Russia and China.

He also is the author of several educational publications and has been featured in several media productions including the 2008 commercial film, “Kansas vs. Darwin”.

“When I was in high school, I think the politically correct term to describe my behavior would be focused-challenged,” Bingman said. “My dad, using his straight-to-the-point farm talk, called it scatter-brained. I thank my high school teachers for their persistence, patience, and belief that I would amount to something, someday. Perhaps one good thing to come out of this is that I understand this kind of student better, because I was that way. However, I don’t think my parents would have bought that as a positive. At that time, if someone would have told me that I would become a teacher, I would have said, “You are out of your mind”.

“I dedicate this honor to all my students. It is their achievements that serves as my inspiration to teach and continue teaching,” he said. “Thank you for your hard work and all the great things you have accomplished. I am so proud of each of you. Further, thank you for teaching me. The neatest and greatest things I have learned about teaching, I have learned from you, my students.”

He gave a special thanks to Taylor King and Kyle Stone, two of his students at Blue Valley West, who produced and directed an outstanding DVD of his teaching expertise and the extent of his teachings that was shown as a part of his induction ceremonies.

Since 1992, five teachers nationwide have been honored each year by being inducted into the National Teachers Hall of Fame. Others inducted this year were Patrice Powell McCrary from Bowling Green Ky.; Leslie J. Nichols of Kingston, Pa.; Jerry L. Parks, Georgetown, Ky. and Steve Rapp, Abingdon, Va.

Eleven choir students from Paola Middle School shared in honoring the inductees as members of the National Teachers Hall of Fame Honor Choir. Among the 108 members of the choir from Paola were Jacob Boehm, Tera Brandt, Hugo Carrete, Lauren Frederick, Emily Fredock, Andrew Henn, Libby McCormack, Ben Rodriguez, Elijah Short, Trey Taylor and Jennifer Wisniewski. The Paola students were selected and directed beforehand by Doris Robinson, who has been teaching at Paola for the past six years.

Bingman was appreciative of the support the event received from the city of Emporia.

“They went all out,” he said.

While the induction ceremonies were conducted Friday evening, the recognitions started Thursday and continued through Saturday morning with various gatherings.

Bingman earned his bachelor of science degree in 1963 at the University of Kansas and his master of science degree in biology in 1967 at Emporia State University. He also has 61 hours beyond his masters from courses taken at KU, Kansas State University, Ottawa University and University of  Missouri, Kansas City.

He also has participated in numerous workshops on how to use computer technology and the Internet to enhance higher levels of thinking and application of material by students in the classroom.

“If I had to do it all over again, I would choose teaching,” he said. “I am proud of what I have accomplished. I am confident that I have left a legacy of helping students learn how to learn and develop a love of learning. We must be diligent to continue to walk the walk that students are the most important people in school. Their success is our success.”
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