1995 Award Winners

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

Cathy Colborn

USD 254 Medicine Lodge

The integration of book knowledge with relevant activities outside the classroom has been the trademark of Cathy Colborn's classroom for nearly 20 years.

"Being able to reason through an assignment rather than just finding an answer in a book is more beneficial to the future experience in life outside the class room. This is provided through various activities, including projects, field trips, cooperative groups in the classroom or diverse exposure to several resources," said Colborn, a sixth-grade teacher at Medicine Lodge Middle School.

All classroom units are packed full of diverse events intended to keep students' minds and hands busy. Colburn's Kansas unit includes a performance of the Wizard of Oz and tours of a wheat farm, while a unit on Mexico involves dancing, and the cre­ation of pinatas, burritos, and Mayan and Aztec masks.

Her life outside the classroom is hands on as well. She is actively involved in the local Peace Treaty Pageant, teaches Sunday school at Trinity Lutheran School and swimming lessons at the local pool. Her photography hobby has evolved into an award-winning way to serve the community. Her photographs have appeared on the local Lions Club and Barber County North School calendars, the Ranch Rodeo Brochure, and the front cover of the Kansas Wheat Commission Annual Report.

Colborn has served as president and team negotiator for both the Gyp Hills National Education Association and Onaga Education Association.

A native of Medicine Lodge, Colborn earned bachelor's and master's degrees from Kansas State University, a specialist degree in educational administration from Wichita State University, and has completed hours toward a doctorate degree from the University of Kansas. She has taught kindergarten, first, fifth, and sixth grade in Medicine Lodge, kindergarten in Onaga, and substituted in the Manhattan school district.

Joseph P. Glotzbach

USD 417 Council Grove

Joseph Glotzbach, or "Mr. G" as his students call him, believes in the adage that the only constant is change. As a new teacher in 1979, he felt he could change the world. Time has tempered that ideal, but it hasn't kept him from trying.

His desire to make changes for the better can be seen both in his classroom experience and in his community involvement.

For the past decade, Glotzbach has taught language arts, speech, and acting at Council Grove High School. In addition, he began teaching an English course, but soon dropped it for a remedial reading program. As a natural progression, he moved into the Students-At-Risk program, which takes student who have failed courses and provides help with course work and life skills. His interest in helping students moved him to develop a Reading-to-Learn program for teachers to incorporate reading across the curriculum.

He has directed summer theatre productions for the local arts council, including Voices of the Wind, a spectacular pageant about the Kaw and the settlement of Council Grove. He is actively involved with the Boy Scouts and the Santa Fe Trail 4-H Club, and St. Rose Catholic Church.

He has served as president of the Kansas Speech Association and received a merit award from the Association of Kansas Theatre for his contribution to theatre in education.

Previously, Glotzbach taught at Blue Valley High School (Randolph), and Hartford High School. A native of Waltham, Mass., he earned a bachelor's degree with a double major in English and speech from ESU and a master's degree in speech from KSU. He also earned an associate's degree from Cloud County Community College.

John B. Harclerode

USD 253 Emporia

John Harclerode's high school counselor said his record indicated the most he should hope for was junior college studies. But Harclercxie knew then that he would be a science teacher. Now he's a 1995 Master Teacher.

Since he graduated from ESU in 1974, "Hare," as his students know him, has been a science teacher at Emporia High School. The Chicago native has since assumed the role of science department chairperson and earned a master's degree from ESU.

His mother encouraged his sense of wonder by welcoming any animal caught, dead or alive, into the house. As a result, hands-on science is the hallmark of John's approach to teaching.

His life science classes share space with an 8-inch long tropical millipede, giant cockroaches from Madagascar, salt-water and fresh-water aquariums, geckos, and a boa constrictor among other living things. Plants and specimens representing nearly every phylum hang from the ceiling and crowd shelves.

Harclerode established with district teachers an animal lending program that has drawn rave reviews from staff and students alike. He also is credited for the growth of Emporia High's summer field science courses, two-week excursions to areas of ecological importance.

Because of the difficulties Hare had in school, an important part of every unit he teaches is devoted to how to study. Emporia High guidance counselor Marilyn Krueger testifies that college students return to brag about how well-prepared they are in any life science course they take and how jealous their roommates are of the Anatomy and Physiology class notes they have saved from Hare's class.

Honor students in the University of Kansas' Liberal Arts and Sciences presented him the High School Teacher Award in 1988, 1989, and 1992. He received Emporia High's Most Inspirational Teacher Award in 1988 and 1992 and the Tandy Technology Scholars Award in 1989. In addition to his many school activities, Harclerode serves on the Board of Directors of the Emporia State Federal Credit Union, and is an active member of the First Methodist Church and the Boy Scouts.

Diana E. Harris

USD 392 Pratt

Diana E. Harris' memories of the one-room school she attended include more than just reading, writing, and 'rithmatic. They also are of the Rooks County school as a meeting place for 4-H groups and community activities and of the close-knit group of friends. This resulting sense of family, of caring and support, have influenced Harris to be what she is today: a second-grade teacher at Southwest Elementary School in Pratt and a 1995 Kansas Master Teacher.

During her 19 years as an elementary and special education teacher, Harris has held true to one concept, that all children can learn.

Harris' teaching philosophy has not gone unnoticed.

According to Cleo R. Rucker, principal of Haskins Elementary School in Pratt and Harris' former supervisor, Harris is not a status quo teacher.

"Her classrooms are active and a combination of proven traditional techniques and 'new' activities such as cooperative groups, literature based reading, and cross grade 'study buddies,"' he said.

In addition to being named a 1995 Kansas Master Teacher, Harris also was Pratt named the Pratt USO 382 Teacher of the Year for 1994-95, Beta Sigma Phi Kappa Chapter Woman of the Year in 1993, Beta Sigma Phi Xi Theta Woman of the Year in 1990, and the Council for Exceptional Children's Exceptional Special Educator of the Year in 1982-83.

Harris has served as a local and regional volunteer for Special Olympics, Day Camp director for the Medicine Lodge Girl Scout Council, a participant in the Medicine Lodge Indian Peace Treaty Pageant, and in a number of capacities in the First United Methodist Church. Harris and her family also served as a host family for a participant in the 1994 Miss Kansas Pageant.

A native of Stockton, Harris graduated from Stockton High School in 1967. She received an Associate of Arts degree from Lake City (Fla.) Junior College, a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Florida, and a Master of Arts degree from Northwestern Oklahoma State University. Previously, Harris taught at Haskins Elementary in Pratt, Medicine Lodge Elementary and through the South Central Kansas Special Education Cooperative in Medicine Lodge.

Patrick R. Lamb

USD 383 Manhattan-Ogden

"If you are willing to work hard and sacrifice, and if you refuse to give up, there is no goal beyond your grasp."

That's the motto of 1995 Master Teacher Patrick R. Lamb. It also is one he currently shares with biology students at Manhattan High School.

Lamb's philosophy works. According to high school counselor Maggie Davie, students flock to Lamb's classes.

Lamb's concern for his students' education goes far beyond the class period. According to Tyson R. Yager, a Wichita East High School instructor who did his student teaching under Lamb, Lamb spends his out-of-class time providing additional assistance to his students. Prior to tests, Lamb conducts evening review sessions. He also provides extracurricular enrichment activities that include showing films in the evenings and setting up independent research projects for students with special interests.

In his 16-year career, Lamb has always kept up with what is happening in both science and technology.

"Mr. Lamb is an instructor of the '90s, incorporating CD-ROM, laser discs and other technology into daily classroom presentations," said Nancy E. O'Kane, assistant principal at Manhattan High School. "He easily moves from overhead transparencies to a wall chart to a video clip to the textbook relating to each piece of information and showing its significance within integral areas of human anatomy, genetics or cell biology."

In addition to being named a 1995 Master Teacher, Lamb also has received the National Association of Biology Teachers Outstanding Biology Teacher Award for Kansas in 1994, and the KSU Society of Sigma Xi's Teaching Excellence Award in 1993. Lamb participates in a number of community activities as a member of the Boy Scouts, the North Central-Flint Hills Area Agency on Aging, Friends of Sunset Zoo in Manhattan, Friends of the Konza Prairie Tall Grass Laboratory, and St. Paul Episcopal Church.

A native of El Dorado, Lamb graduated from Wichita North High School in 1971 . He received a Bachelor of Science in Education degree and a Master of Science in biology from Pittsburg State University. In addition to his work at Manhattan High School, Lamb has taught at KSU, Fort Scott Community College, and Fort Scott High School.

Jo Ann Schuette

USD 259 Wichita

Jo Ann Schuette never lets a student respond with "I don't know." Instead, the eighth-grade mathematics teacher and 1995 Master Teacher guides her students to help them find the knowledge they had all along.

According to colleague Peggy J. Cordon, Schuette's success is the result of three fundamental strengths. First, she expects her students to focus on the business of learning mathematics and to assume responsibility for their part in the learning process, which results in individual improvement, and success. Second, Schuette uses a wide variety of teaching tools and techniques to actively engage all students in learning. Third, she incorporates mathematical content into the real world of her students.

Schuette's love of mathematics education extends beyond class time. She plans and teaches in-service classes within the district on the use of cooperative learning, manipulatives, and technology. She also has taught the Math for Elementary Teachers course at Wichita State University (WSU) and typically works with a student teacher.

Not only is Schuette popular with her students and colleagues in Wichita, but also with colleagues throughout the United States.

"I attended one such presentation at the 1993 Regional Math Conference in Paducah, Kentucky. Her reputation filled the room to capacity and the enthusiasm was marvelous," said Mary Jo Aiken, a member of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics regional services committee.

In addition to being named a 1995 Kansas Master Teacher, Schuette received the Presidential Award for Excellence of Teaching Mathematics and a Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship. She was named the Walt Disney Teacher of the Year in Mathematics, USO 259 Distinguished Middle School Classroom Teacher, and to Who's Who in American Education in 1992.

A native of Topeka, Schuette graduated from Hayden High School in 1970. She received a Bachelor of Education degree from Washburn University and a master's degree in curriculum and instruction from WSU. Her 15 years of teaching experience also include assignments in Manhattan and Randolph and at School of the Magdalen in Wichita.

Tom Schwartz

USD 435 Abilene

According to parent Debbi Hansen, where the youth of the community go, so goes Tom Schwartz.

Schwartz has spent his entire 15-year teaching career as the K-5 physical education instructor at Garfield, McKinley, and Kennedy elementary schools in Abilene. His teaching philosophy was gleaned from three role models - his father, a cousin, and a high school math teacher. He describes that educational philosophy as basic, dealing with the fundamentals of life like caring for others, being the best you can be, and self respect.

Abilene school board member Debby Barbur summed up the product of Schwartz's efforts. "His students not only know how to play the game, but how to play it fairly, and how the game affects the world around them."

Garfield School's Great Texas Race received one of six awards from the Kansas Governor's Council on Fitness in 1990. Fourth and fifth graders walked, jogged, or ran the local track to compile the mileage needed to cover the distance from Abilene, Kan., to Abilene, Texas, while students at Dyess Elementary in Abilene, Texas, did the same. The Abilene cooperative effort incorporated English, geography, history, math, and social studies.

Schwartz believes that for public education to work, there must be a relationship with the community. His community involvement includes service for the local United Way board, Democratic Party, Optimist Club, Recreation Department, Community Theatre, and Dickinson County Heart Association chapter.

Involvement in district decisions also is a priority. Locally, he has served as negotiator, teacher right's chair, state delegate, political action chair, and three-time president of the local NEA. He also served in numerous capacities for the UniServ District 114 and the K-NEA. He also has chaired the K-12 physical education curriculum committee, and chaired both the Garfield School Improvement Team and the District-wide Steering Committee.

A native of Hanover, Schwartz earned a bachelor's degree in physical education and a master's degree in educational administration from KSU. He also has an associate degree from Cloud County Community College.