Kansas Teachers' Hall of Fame Class of 2020

Christine Borrego - Wichita, Kansas

Christine has made it a goal in her 33 years as an educator to “assist young people as they learn to take their place in the world as thinking capable, and engaged citizens”.  In her role of English teacher she sees her role as helping prepare students “for the world in which they live, and work, and love. 

Larry Brownlee - Sterling, Kansas

Larry believes in setting high expectations and showing students how to meet and exceed those expectations. His goal is to instill a sense of joy and wonder in students through music. He states that “music has the power to work in students’ lives physically, emotionally, and spiritually”.Larry has been fully committed to teaching for 40 years.

Rebecca Ellis - Hill City, Kansas

Rebecca Ellis believes that “all classroom approaches hinge on the development of respect and responsibility.” With this approach she works to have her students be fully responsible for their own words, and actions and learn to have respect for themselves and others. “In the constantly changing field of special education, I focus my educational goals on the frequent learning of new strategies that will benefit my students.” 

Connie Frederking - Wellington, Kansas

Connie Frederking believes that the more she learns the more equipped she will be to educate students. She wants to encourage them to be the best they can be. She always wants to focus on what is “right” about each child and in this way allows each child to start the day feeling positive about themselves.

Anne Janzen - Hillsboro, Kansas

Getting students to believe that they are capable of learning and helping them build confidence in themselves is a priority of Anne Janzen. She wants every student she comes in contact with to feel safe and accepted. She gets to watch their confidence in themselves and their skills soar as they experience successes. #Best feeling of all.

Modesto (Les) Limon - El Dorado, Kansas

Modesto (Les) Limon goal has become the goal he wants for his students as well. He says, “I want to enable them to make their own decisions by helping them learn critical thinking skills. My goal is to give my students the best opportunity for success by instilling in the the proper mindset to succeed. Equipped with the right knowledge, skills, and perseverance, students truly can achieve anything.”

Juanita K. Parker - Ness City, Kansas

Juanita Parker feels that as an educator her overall goal is to teach the whole child/teenager and develop a positive attitude and enthusiasm for learning. By using collaborative effort, her students develop a thirst for knowledge, become self-confident, and develop high moral, social, and ethical standards.

Duane Unger - Goodland, Kansas

Duane Unger believes that each student comes with a unique set of needs and desires. He further feels that each student deserves to be in a classroom where he/she feels safe and respected and is encouraged to develop into a caring and productive young adult. He wants his students to develop their communication, problem-solving and reasoning skills to be successful in their chosen careers.

Brenda Unruh - Langdon, Kansas

“I work to be positive every day and encourage my students to do the same.”  is what Brenda Unruh writes. Her number one goal in teaching is to build positive relationships with her students and she strives to have her math classroom be the highlight of their day.

Barbara G. White - Wellington, Kansas

The beliefs that have guided Barbara Whites’ 38 years of teaching are that every student is of inestimable worth, every student can learn and every student deserves the opportunity to discover the joy of life-long learning. She believes that an effective teacher must love and respect children and recognize the distinctive gifts and talents of each child.