ABOUT US:
Created in 2019 by a Kansas public school teacher, the Kansas Educators Support Foundation is a 501(c)3 that aims to address educator shortages, job satisfaction, and resources available for Kansas educators. Additionally, this organization seeks to create opportunities for Kansas educators to reinvigorate creativity and passion for the classroom experience.
MISSION:
Our purpose is to provide resources that support Kansas educators in their continued learning, professional development, instructional practice, and classroom needs.
MEET THE TEAM:
Erica Shook: Founder and Chair
Shook is a 2019 Kansas Teacher of the Year nominee, a 2020 LEGO Master Educator, and a 2022 LaunchLearning Fellow. She is currently serving as the Director of Ad Astra Academies for USD 313, Buhler and adjunct instructor of English and Teacher Education at McPherson College. Shook believes in the importance of building student empathy through literary experiences and that students hold the capacity to be leaders and advocates in their communities, which she encourages and fosters through literature, project/problem based learning, equity-centered design thinking, and service learning activities. Shook is also passionate about helping educators fuel their own passions by supporting them in their continued professional learning and collaboration. |
Dyane Smokorowski: Executive Board
Smokorowski is the 2013 Kansas Teacher of the Year, a 2019 National Teacher Hall of Fame inductee, and is currently serving as the Coordinator of Digital Literacy for Wichita Public Schools in Wichita, Kansas. Mrs. Smoke, as she’s known to her students, believes in a project-based, student-centered classroom that helps students build skills in communication, planning, research, and project implementation. Additionally, Dyane thrives on the mission to create active and engaging teacher professional learning opportunities. She wants her students and teachers to develop a love for innovation, communication, and technology, but also to understand how to use that love and passion to advance their own futures, as well as that of the global community. |
Ricardo Sanchez: Secretary/Treasurer
Sanchez is an early career educator currently serving as a Spanish teacher at McPherson High School in McPherson, Kansas. In the classroom, Sanchez works toward intertwining cultural competence and language skills to ensure his students are better prepared for when they leave their building. Outside the classroom, Sanchez's passion lies in helping other educators. It is his belief that if educators have a strong support system behind them, they will be better equipped in their classrooms. |
Matt Lindsey: Executive Board
Matt Lindsey is the President of the Kansas Independent College Association & Fund, a role he has held since 2012. As president, Matt represents the interests of the nineteen private, not-for-profit, accredited colleges and universities in the state of Kansas. The work includes coordinating state and federal government relations on behalf of the sector, directing consortia work around improving college affordability, access, and completion and enhancing the ability of the unique private colleges that dot the Kansas prairie to thrive in a challenging and ever-changing educational landscape. Before joining KICA, Matt was the Executive Director of Kansas Campus Compact, working to enhance civic and community engagement activities on college campuses throughout Kansas. He previously served as the senior associate for Freedman Consulting in Washington, DC, where he advised non-profit consortiums and large foundations on effective means to achieve policy change. |