Excellence at a Glance

Friday December 8, 2023

Happy Holidays from the KCKPS Family to yours.

Please Join Us!

Community Discuses Dangers of Fentanyl

Burns and McDonnell Battle of the Brains

KCKPS Recognized by Kansas City Medical Society

Harmon Gifted $20,000 in Music Instruments

Students Receive $50,000 Scholarships

November Students of the Month

Washington High School Students First Stage Performance in a Decade

Students Prepare Holiday Feast

Shoes Donated to Chelsea Students

McKinney-Vento Serves Up Holiday Baskets for KCKPS Families

Students and Teachers Shine Bright at Music Convention

Community News

Videos to Watch

One Pill Can Kill. That was the message Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools shared during a community event focused on the dangers of Fentanyl.

The meeting coordinated by the Enough is Enough initiative at KCKPS took place at Gloria Willis Middle School on Wednesday, November 15.

Dozens of attendees heard from Kansas City, Kansas Police Officers, the KCKPS Police Department, the KCK Fire Department, the Unified Government Health Department, and KCKPS students who serve as peer-to-peer advocates. 

Event organizers set up two separate sessions simultaneously in English and Spanish.

The event began with a short video that showed Andy and Rhonda Burris of Lansing, Kansas, talking about their young son Cruz. He died in January at the age of 15 after taking what he thought was Percocet, which is a pain killer. It turns out he had taken Fentanyl.

The Burris’ tearfully talked about their son growing up and how proud they were of him. During a moment in the video, Mr. Burris sadly stated that he performed CPR on his dead son. As jarring as that statement might have been, organizers say conversations like these are necessary.

“I hope they (attendees) leave with a sense of fear. That it brings them to have conversations with their neighbors, their loved ones, and their kids about how dangerous this can be,” said KCKPS Behavioral Health Coordinator Angela Dunn. 

Captain John Diaz of the KCK Police Department and the Narcotics Unit delivered a slide show presentation that displayed how deadly Fentanyl can be. A lethal dose is just one-sixteenth the size of a penny. Diaz also mentioned that Fentanyl comes in many different forms, most notably as other medications and candy. 

“We want people to understand, students specifically, that One Pill Can Kill. They might be thinking that they’re taking something but not understand that it could be laced with Fentanyl. So, they could be unintentionally overdosing. That is scary,” said Dunn. 

The evening also featured a panel discussion that the audience heard from KCKPS leaders. The panelists answered questions from the moderator and those in attendance. 

The event concluded with a question-and-answer period. Questions centered around what type of resources are available to those who might be addicted. An audience member asked about the repercussions of using and selling Fentanyl. Another audience member compared the Fentanyl crisis to the Crack Cocaine epidemic during the ‘80s and ‘90s. 

KCKPS Police Chief Curtis Nicholson stressed that there is a multi-tiered effort in the school district to battle Fentanyl. He mentioned that ensuring students know the dangers was a key component. 

Fentanyl is part of a growing opioid crisis spreading across the U.S. Experts say It’s up to 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine. Fentanyl is typically used for pain management for those patients recovering from surgery. But today, it’s manufactured and sold to people looking to get high.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, over 150 people die every day from overdoses related to synthetic opioids like fentanyl.

The Enough is Enough initiative hopes to have a similar community event in the spring of 2024 and possibly later in the school year.

In the meantime, smaller events will be held at individual schools in the district to spread the word about Fentanyl.

The conversation also continued during a separate session at Wyandotte High School with a series of conversations with the student body.

In a field of nearly 750 competitors in the greater Kansas City area, a group of incredibly talented students from Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools have advanced to the next round in the Battle of the Brains Competition.

The lucky students and their classmates learned the good news during a special announcement at Emerson Elementary School on Thursday, December 7. 

The event featured a Battle of the Brains party bus with organizers who cheered students on with bullhorns, bubble dispensers, and foam fingers. 

Union Station’s Science City and Burns & McDonnell, the Kansas City-based engineering and design firm, were sponsors of the Battle of the Brains, a K-12 STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) competition. They were there to tell the crowd that nine KCKPS students were named a top 20 finalist.  

“Today was about celebrating and inspiring young students that can create ideas for the future and other generations of other children at Science City,” said Union Station President and CEO George Guastello. 

The students honored were from Emerson, Frances Willard, John Fiske, Lowell Brune, and Claud Huyck Elementary Schools.

KCKPS students benefit in many ways through strong community partnerships.

The district’s Diploma+ program was recognized as Community Partner of the Year by the Kansas City Medical Society.

The honor is part of a collaborative effort between KCKPS, the Unified Government, and the Wyandotte County Public Health CHIP program.

The award was partly due to a client-connected project by F.L. Schlagle High School students. 

Leaders at the Kansas City Medical Society say the students’ work researching information for DotteHealthCareers.com, a bilingual exploration website for young people wishing to pursue a healthcare career, was a valuable contribution. 

“Being awarded for their part on the website is a testament to their dedication and their impact in promoting healthcare career opportunities for students. Kudos to all involved in this initiative,” said the Diploma+ College & Careers Program Director, Dr. Angela Wright.

Dr. Wright and Coordinator of Work-Based Learning Nicole Pizzato attended the event to receive the award.

Congratulations to everyone. 

The Music Program at J.C. Harmon High School received a huge lift thanks to the generosity of the Latin Grammy Cultural Foundation and the Ford Motor Company Fund.

Students, faculty, and staff gathered in the school’s auditorium on Tuesday, December 5, where they learned that the two organizations donated $20,000 to the music department. 

The huge investment allowed the school to purchase new instruments including guitars, drums, maracas, violins, violas, mambo bells, and Latin percussion instruments. 

“It means a lot to me and the teachers, and the music department. It means more to our students who will be able to replace some of our old instruments that may have aged a little bit,” said J.C. Harmon Band Director Weston Cook.  

Read more about this awesome event online and take a moment to watch the a video of the event on the District's YouTube Channel.

Highlights Around the District

More than a dozen students from Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools received $50,000 scholarships to attend college.

They learned about the amazing gift during a live broadcast of ABC’s Good Morning America at Kansas City’s Union Station on Friday, November 17.

ABC News Correspondent Steve Osunsami, Kansas City Hip-Hop artist Tech N9ne, and Hollywood actor and Kansas City, Kansas native Eric Stonestreet told the crowd of over a hundred local high school seniors that they would receive the generous gift totaling over $5 million. 

The scholarships are courtesy of Great Jobs KC, a nonprofit that helps young people gain economic independence and build careers that sustain themselves and their families.

According to Great Jobs KC, the organization believes that equalizing access to post-secondary education and the jobs of the future will help lift the economic tide of the entire region and help everyone thrive. 

It’s been a long time coming, but the first musical production by Washington High School students has finally happened after ten long years.

After a decade-long absence, students performed the musical production of Broadway Our Way at their school.

Broadway Our Way is a musical revue from mostly modern Broadway musicals such as the SpongeBob Musical, Hamilton, and Dear Evan Hansen. 

“Judith ‘Mama’ Jones, our fantastic theater director, and I had been playing with some ideas of how we could have the Vocal Music Department and Musical Theater Department collaborate meaningfully,” said Washington High School Vocal Music Director Austin Snell. “We landed on this idea over the summer. We tossed the idea out to our students, and they immediately loved it and wanted to get started right away.” 

Students began to rehearse for the musical but faced some challenges along the way. Jones says one of the biggest challenges was getting the students together at once to rehearse. Schedules weren’t always in sync, so it was tough.  

Thanksgiving is a holiday tradition where family and friends come together to enjoy one another and to have a festive meal. 

The Culinary Arts Class at Wyandotte High School has a very similar tradition that has spanned nearly 15 years. 

Just a week before Thanksgiving, the Culinary Arts kitchen was buzzing as students prepared all sorts of dishes for their holiday meal. 

“It started the first year I was here, and it just stuck. It’s me sharing my tradition with everyone,” said Culinary Arts Teacher Patrick Thompson. I consider my students to be family. They’re my kids. It’s my job to feed my kids. 

It’s been 14 years and counting for the holiday feast. Thompson says putting the meal together is also a lot of fun. “This is like my Super Bowl. It’s great to do the events for the outside people who come in (Wyandotte), but this is about us feeding us,” he adds.  

The holiday menu featured cornbread stuffing, baked macaroni and cheese, roasted Brussels sprouts, collard greens, and ham and turkey. There was no shortage of sweets for desserts, most notably a vast assortment of pies.

Thompson says that most of the dishes were made from scratch, right down to the stock for the cornbread stuffing. For his students, they loved coming together to help make the big holiday meal. But they also love the class itself. 

“I wanted to improve my cooking skills because I already like baking and cooking at home. I was like, let me learn how to do new stuff,” said Wyandotte High School 10th-grader Rosie Suriano.  

Cooking is exciting to me. I love that you can make food in many ways. You take all these raw, natural foods, put them together, and then you have this crazy meal, said Wyandotte High School senior Jonathan Atty. 

The two love the class, but they also love their teacher, Mr. Thompson. “He’s sassy sometimes but also very helpful,” said Suriano. “Great teacher. He’s honestly a great teacher. He’s patient. If you forget how to use a machine, he’ll walk over and show you how to use it,” said Atty. 

The class is already preparing for next year’s meal. “We will definitely talk about what we liked and did not like. We’ll put it in a notebook and adjust for next year,” said Thompson. 

Charlesetta Jackson has done it again.

The Family and Community Engagement Specialist and her teammates at New Chelsea Elementary School provided every student with a pair of brand-new shoes.

During a three day period, New Chelsea Principal Dr. Dana Jackson told kindergarten through fifth-grade students that they would be receiving new shoes.

“They were so excited. It’s been so much fun. It’s been so amazing,” said Dr. Jackson. 

 Each day, teachers, counselors, and school administrators brought new shoes into the classrooms, as Dr. Jackson explained to students that several generous donors had made it possible for them to receive the shoes.

“It just shows them that people care about them in the world and want to see them do well,” added Dr. Jackson.  

Members of the McKinney-Vento Program at Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools camped out in Central Office's lobby before the Thanksgiving holiday. 

They sat patiently waiting for families they knew could use a helping hand during the holidays. One by one, families streamed into the lobby to receive a special gift. McKinney-Vento Specialists Lanesha Huggins and Venessa Mora ensured each family who stopped by received a holiday dinner basket. 

The baskets included a turkey, stuffing, canned vegetables, soups, rice, dinner rolls, cranberry sauce, macaroni and cheese, desserts, and treats. The baskets also had a tablecloth, napkins, and a roasting pan to cook the turkey. Nearly 20 families received the baskets to help them prepare for a holiday meal. 

The McKinney-Vento Program assists hundreds of families but only had a limited number of baskets to hand out. "Of course, we have more than 18 families, but we had to do a drawing to help us select who would receive a basket," said Huggins.

Some very talented students and teachers from Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools recently found themselves in the spotlight. 

More than 150 students and their teachers took part in the 2023-24 Northeast Kansas Music Educators (NEKMEA) Association Mini-convention in Topeka, Kansas, on Saturday, December 2. 

Students were placed at various locations throughout Topeka for auditions, while others were nominated for state-level honor groups. Those who auditioned for choir went to Topeka High School. Students in orchestra went to Washburn Rural High School, and students in band went to Seaman High School.



Depending on the outcome of their auditions, students have the opportunity to perform during the KMEA In-Service Workshop in February. 

Community News

As the weather gets colder this fall and winter, please know that there are several available warming centers across Wyandotte County.

A final list of warming centers is still being compiled; however, you can view a map of current open warming centers and their hours.

To view the full list of locations and respective details, zoom to the full extent of the map and click on ‘Search this area’ at the top of the screen. All centers will appear in a list on the left panel.

More information about the warming centers and additional locations will be posted on the map as needed.

Our recent cold weather and snowfall should remind you to be safe when at home!

The Kansas City Board of Public Utilities has gathered some general home safety tips and reminders for customers and the community as they prepare for colder weather. Click here for more information!

KCKPS Videos to Watch

Board of Education