Konza Environmental Education Program

Schoolyard Long-term Ecological Research

Teacher Profiles 2008

Teacher

Classroom Unit

Prairie Site

Grasshoppers

Bethel College: Sand Prairie Natural History Preserve

Noah Busch has been a science teacher at the middle and high school levels for the past 6 years.  The last year has been spent at Wichita North High School.  This year was spent teaching Biology and next year he will teach Biology, Zoology, and Field Ecology.  He is currently in the process of finishing his Master of Science in Environmental Studies (MSES) degree from Friends University and has spent the past two years working with landowners of small prairie remnants in South Central Kansas under the supervision of Brad Guhr at the Dyck Arboretum in Hesston, KS.  Noah enjoys hunting, fishing, and spending as much time outdoors with his wife, Liz, as possible.  He brings his love of the outdoors into the classroom and is especially interested in introducing his students to the natural history of Kansas.  The tools gathered at the “Prairies Across Kansas Teachers Workshop” will be invaluable in trying to instill in his students a broader picture of the landscape in which they live.

Biomass

Bethel College: Sand Prairie Natural History Preserve

Mary C. Criss teaches Chemistry and Biology at Wichita North High School.  When she is not planning lessons, or creating origami sculptures, you can find her outdoors hiking, fishing or taking her three kids on long drives through the countryside (Long Pointless Drives or LPD’s as her kids would call them).  They usually end up exploring some place new and exciting.  Their last LPD was a 10,500 mile trip to the interior of Alaska that took them 6 weeks.  She collected wildflowers throughout the entire trip and took hundreds of wildlife photos.  Mary is excited about Wichita North High School’s restoration of a tallgrass prairie habitat that will start in July 2008, and will use the valuable information gained during the Konza Environmental Education Program and Earth Partnership Schools workshops to help make the project a success.

Grasshoppers

Konza Prairie Biological Station

Paula Harper has been a teacher for 34 years.  For the past 18 years she has been in the Topeka School District, teaching middle school science and high school biology.  She will use the knowledge gained from the Prairies Across Kansas Teachers Workshop into Biology and Botany courses.  She hopes to develop a better science curriculum which will include greater interactive learning activities for her students.

Macro-invertebrates

Bethel College: Sand Prairie Natural History Preserve

Hannah Kelderman has been teaching for 3 years at Wichita North High.  Her love for the great outdoors stems from many summers spent being a “river rat” while growing up.  In her spare time she still greatly enjoys fishing, canoeing, rafting, long evening walks, and in general being awed by creation.  Her goal is to continually immerse her nature-phobic inner city students into the “awesomeness” of the outdoors until they learn to love it half as much as she does.

Volunteer for Hannah Kelderman

Mary A. Kelderman is a homemaker from Wichita and the mother of Hannah Kelderman.  She was raised on a farm in south-central Iowa which is where she learned to love the outdoors.  Her hobbies include working outdoors, going on walks, listening to praise music, going to garage sales, and spending time with her hubby and three adult children.

Grasshoppers

Konza Prairie Biological Station

Ryan Reuyan has been a teacher for four years. His teaching assignment at Topeka High School includes Biology and Zoology. He finished his Masters Degree in Biology from Leyte Normal University in 2007.  He loves to give students laboratory activities which allow them to gain procedural skills and get first hand information. Ryan’s interest in teaching biology makes him look forward to learning interesting activities which are something new to the classroom. His knowledge from KEEP will help him integrate hands-on experiences into the science curriculum. For Ryan, KEEP is a venue for students to do scientific investigations and other hands-on learning experiences.

Plant Collection

Marion County Park and Lake

Cindy Riedel has taught for 13 years at the middle school and high school levels. The last four years have been at Centre High School in Lost Springs, Kansas, teaching in the areas of Biology, Advanced Biology, Anatomy and Physiology and Forensic Science.   She previously taught at Council Grove High School for 8 years and as she came from a rural background, appreciates the beautiful Flint Hills and native prairies.  This workshop will be incorporated into the biology classes and a nearby natural prairie plot will be used to research and gather data. She is excited to provide real research opportunities for her students and looks forward to being in an outdoor learning environment.