1980 Award Winners

Biographies below were included in the program for the year listed here and were current as of that time.

Harold M. Balzer

Industrial Arts Teacher

Buhler High School

USD 313 Buhler

Balzer has been teaching industrial arts at Buhler High School since 1948. An Inman native, Balzer was instrumental in revamping the Buhler High industrial arts program. Students at Buhler now can take courses in general metals, aeronautics, machines, welding, photography, drafting, carpentry, printing, and electricity. Balzer has been the industrial arts chairperson since 1956.

For 31 years, Balzer was tennis coach at the high school. He had players qualify for state competition 25 consecutive years, with at least one player placing for 24 of those years. He retired from coaching after the 1978-79 season.

Balzer attended Bethel College in 1941-42 before serving in the United States Army from 1943-45. He was graduated in 1948 from Pittsburg State University with a B.S. degree. He received his M.S. degree in 1954 from Wichita State University. He has done post-graduate work at Emporia State University and three other schools.

"Teaching is a time of discovery for the student in a learning atmosphere," says Balzer. "It is also a time the instructor evaluates the abilities of his students and presents the subject matter in the language of the recipient . The brilliant can be bored while the under-achievers are frustrated.

"It is my objective to challenge gifted and simplify for those who have difficulty. There is nothing that succeeds like success."

Balzer and his wife, Darlene, have one son and one daughter.

Raymond Goering

Mathematics Teacher

Salina High School Central

USD 305 Salina

Goering has been teaching mathematics at Salina High School Central since 1947. He has been chairperson of the mathematics department since 1970, Student Council sponsor since 1962, and an American Field Service sponsor since 1958. Goering was assistant basketball and track coach from 1946-59, and head football coach from 1950-54.

During his career Goering, a McPherson County native , has been active in the Kansas-National Education Association, Kansas Association of Teachers of Mathematics, and the State Department of Education.

Goering received his B.S. degree in 1941 from McPherson College. He received his M.S. degree in 1947 from Colorado College in Greeley. In addition, Goering has done post-graduate work at seven schools including Stanford University and Kansas State University.

"As a teacher I accept that knowledge will always govern ignorance," says Goering, "and those societies which wish to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power that knowledge gives.

"We, as teachers, must plot our course-one which is exciting and may become difficult at times because progress is so rapid; we must educate for leisure in an age of automation; we must educate for service in a world where selfishness and greed are too apparent; we must educate for good citizenship in the widest and international sense if we are to survive.

"The art of teaching is worthy of magnificent efforts."

Goering and his wife, Dorothy, have two daughters.

Lucille Luckey

Fourth Grade Teacher

Northwest Elementary School

USD 443 Dodge City

Luckey, a Garden City native, has been teaching at Northwest Elementary School in Dodge City since 1968. She was third grade teacher from 1968-71, and has been fourth grade teacher ever since.

She received her A.A. degree in 1945 from Dodge City Community College. She then attended Emporia State University and Fort Hays State University before receiving her B.S. degree in 1968 from St. Mary of the Plains College. Luckey has done graduate work at LaVerne College in California, University of Kansas, Wichita State University, and Kansas State University.

"I believe human beings are unique individuals," says Luckey. "I believe this uniqueness is brought about by a well-rounded education. This education takes place in the school, in the home, in the church, and in the community as a whole.

"We should endeavor to educate the whole person, physically, psychologically, morally, and spiritually. Psychologically, by providing adequate goals and objectives for learning.

"I believe a student should be spiritually alive, intellectually alert, and physically disciplined.

"We should derive a certain amount of satisfaction from teaching each day. Students should be allowed to contribute to the class and not have the teacher do all of the talking."

Luckey and her husband, Ted, have three daughters.

Mary Remington

Learning Supervisor

Pittsburg Bevan Education Center

USD 250 Pittsburg

Remington has been in Pittsburg since her birth. She was graduated from Pittsburg High School, received three degrees from Pittsburg State University, and has taught in Pittsburg since 1960. Her degrees from Pittsburg State are: B.S. in 1960, M.S. in 1970, and Ed.S. in 1979.

Remington has been learning supervisor for kindergarten-grade eight at the Pittsburg Bevan Education Center since 1979. She also teaches language arts for Pittsburg State's School of Education. Prior to taking her present assignments, Remington taught at Nettels Elementary School and worked in several capacities for the Bevan Education Center.

The learning supervisor is active in Phi Delta Kappa, Kansas Association of Middle Level Educators, Kansas Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development, and the American Business Women's Association. She was chosen the Outstanding Alumnus in 1972 by Pittsburg State, and in 1977 she was one of three finalists for the Kansas Teacher of the Year award.

Remington believes education should be a rewarding and enjoyable process for all those involved. If students can see the relevance of their educations, she says, they will have a more positive attitude toward learning.

Remington and her husband, Bob, have one daughter and one son.

Patricia Samuelson

Elementary Counselor

Village, Walnut and Logan Avenue Elementary Schools

USD 253 Emporia

Samuelson, a Dimmitt, Tex., native, has been an elementary counselor at Village, Walnut and Logan Avenue elementary schools in Emporia since 1973. Prior to 1973, she taught in elementary schools in Texas and Emporia.

She is active in many professional organizations, including the Kansas School Counselor Association, Emporia National Education Association, American School Counselor Association, and Kansas Personnel and Guidance Association. She has served on both the Emporia gifted education advisory committee and the Emporia Human Relations Commission.

In 1979, Samuelson was selected the Kansas Outstanding Counselor of the Year by the Kansas Personnel and Guidance Association. She was honored for outstanding service to the Emporia Unified School District for 1978-79. Most recently, Samuelson was named Emporia's 1980 Teacher of the Year by the Emporia-National Education Association.

Samuelson received her B.S. degree in 1960 from North Texas State University, and her M.S. degree in 1969 from Emporia State University. She completed 25 graduate hours in elementary counseling and guidance to meet the Kansas counseling certification in 1972. She also has completed 62 hours of postgraduate work at Emporia State.

Samuelson and her husband, Bill, have two sons and a daughter.

James R. Smith

Principal

Oregon Trail Junior High

USD 233 Olathe

Smith has been principal of Oregon Trail Junior High in Olathe since 1978. Prior to that, he was a teacher and a coach at Stilwell High School from 1960-62, teacher and coach at Olathe High from 1962-69, teacher and assistant principal at Millbrooke Junior High from 1969-76, and principal of Olathe Vocational School from 1976-78.

Smith, a Utica, N .Y., native, received his B.S. degree in 1960 from Ottawa University. He received his M.S. degree in 1964 from Emporia State University. Smith received his administrative certification from the University 'of Kansas in 1971.

"A junior high educator must be committed to the youth he is serving," Smith says. "He must also be committed to the task of daily preparation and individual planning in seeking out the needs of his students. The teacher must show concern for his students. Concern is not self-sustaining, it needs daily cultivation. The teacher needs to be thoughtful, kind, considerate, firm and fair. The teacher should also be able to accept the child's imperfections and deal with them in a positive way.

"As teachers, we need to maintain a sense of humor and be able to laugh at ourselves. We need to be understanding and to be willing to trust children. We need to give children freedom to accept responsibility. And last, but not least, the teacher needs 'that something' which is the spirit that sparks us to do our very best."

Smith and his wife, Arlene, have two daughters and one son.

Paul Willis

Science Teacher

Shawnee Heights High School

USD 450 Shawnee Heights

Willis, an Elmont native, has been a science teacher at Shawnee Heights High School since 1963. Prior to that, Willis taught at Highland Park High School (1957-63).

In Topeka, Willis is active in the Highland Park United Methodist Church, National Audubon Society, and Shawnee Heights American Field Service adult chapter. He was named 1969 Outstanding Biology Teacher in Kansas.

Willis received his A.A. degree in 1949 from Independence Community College, his B.S.E. degree in 1951 from Pittsburg State University, his M.S. degree in 1957 from Kansas State University, and his Ed.S. degree in 1962 from Emporia State University. He has attended four National Science Foundation summer institutes and participated in one National Science Foundation research project.

"A key factor in education, both formal and informal, is assimilation," says Willis. "If knowledge gained from experience does not become incorporated into thought processes and behavior, education has not really occurred.

"In order for assimilation to take place, the learner must be actively involved. Very little learning can be accomplished passively. If the learner believes in himself and wants to learn, genuine learning will take place. If the learner has a negative self-image or lacks a desire to learn, little learning can take place."

Willis and his wife, Lil, have four children.