Riley Prosser and Trevor Stimatze
Riley Prosser and Trevor Stimatze take time for a pose at the Enchantment Under the Sea station Saturday during Pratt’s 2022 Prom activities. Photo by Bill Rea .
April 2022
Read MoreRiley Prosser and Trevor Stimatze
A school hallway
A school hallway was transformed into an underwater scene by junior class members and Tonja Harrison of Balloons and More in Pratt for the 2022 prom. Courtesy photo .
Peyton Koehler and Lauren Kolm
Peyton Koehler and Lauren Kolm make a stunning red, white and blue statement at the 2022 Pratt High School Prom event. Photo by Bill Rea .
After a busy week of spring sports and school activities
After a busy week of spring sports and school activities, Dru Lunsford and his date are all smiles at the 2022 Pratt Prom. Photo by Bill Rea .
Pratt students Lonnie Hook and Rayden Crow
Pratt students Lonnie Hook and Rayden Crow follow prom traditions even though Crow was also involved in Pratt Community College’s theatre event, The Wizard of Oz, on the same evening. Courtesy photo
Pratt High School
Pratt High School senior Grant Younie escorts his dates Madeline Drake and Lena Hampton into 2020 Pratt Prom on Saturday evening under a gorgeous sky and to the cheers of many well-wishers who attended the event. Photo by Bill Rea
Ndirangu wins crown in Pratt, plans year of service as new MKSOT
In a competition held March 27 in Pratt, Niomi Ndirangu of Wichita was crowned the 2022 Miss Kansas Outstanding Teen. The season was spring instead of summer and the stage was at the Liberty Middle School instead of Pratt Community College, as in previous years of the competition, but at the heart of the matter it was the same moving and building experience for the 14 contestants and other young girls who participated as Sunflowers.
Congress comes after Kansas’ credit cards
Here in Kansas, we are lucky to have two strong conservatives representing us in the United States Senate. Ever since the Democrats took control of the White House and Congress last year, they have not stopped looking for new ways to overhaul how Kansans live their lives. Their policies are resulting in rampant inflation and skyrocketing energy prices. We feel it every time we go to the grocery store or fill up our gas tanks. Nevertheless, Senators Roger Marshall and Jerry Moran have stood up to congressional leadership at every turn and they are fighting for us. We will need them to keep up the fight as progressives try their latest scheme: regulating our credit cards.
The command that teachers post their class content online is unprofessional
I apologized to my students as they settled in to their seats. It was March 14, 2011 and the Fukushima offshore earthquake had struck the Sunday before. But it took until Monday night for the damage to occur with the backup power units at their nuclear plant and begin the disaster. So when my students took their seats, my apology was for their having read the regular lesson assigned in the syllabus. Instead we would be learning about how nuclear radiation damages the body. It was biology—unplanned biology.
Bring back civic education
Between 10 and 15 years ago, political science professors discovered renewed our interest in civic engagement. Retired U.S. Senator Bob Graham and his collaborator Chris Hand published the first edition of their book America: The Owner’s Manual in 2009, arguing that the best hope for the renewal of American democracy lies in teaching a new cadre of involved, interested citizens who begin their journeys of civic activism by making change at the local level, usually on nonpartisan issues. The authors give numerous examples and tips. The American Political Science Association (APSA) hosted their first annual Teaching and Learning Conference in 2005, while the Journal of Political Science Education had debuted the previous year.