Educators from across the Wheat State League set aside competitive rivalry and convened at Solomon High School on September 29 for a day of shared learning, inspiration, and professional growth. Prior to the 2025-26 school year, school leadership would meet weekly to strengthen instructional practices and align district goals. After twelve years of internal collaboration, the WSL leaders adjusted their practice and brought together teachers and administrators to exchange ideas and build networks to elevate student outcomes. With each school focused on one or more of the following foundational areas: (1) structured literacy, (2) standards alignment, (3) balanced assessment and (4) quality instruction; attendees were grouped up by their role in the district and able to collaborate with their peers. One Solomon teacher, Tina Rollins, stated how she ended the day furnished with a selection of engaging ideas for the classroom. WSL Professional Development day hopes to strengthen cross-district networks, share best practices in the four foundational areas and celebrate collective achievements and set sights on future growth.
Solomon’s campus turned into a hub of professional exchange this last Monday, September 29th. WSL PD day was represented by Solomon, Goessel, Canton-Galva, Little River, Centre, Herington, and Peabody-Burns, with a visit from Rural Vista’s superintendent. Attendees were greeted by Solomon superintendent Justin Coup and then challenged by Dr. Renee Nugent, Deputy Commissioner of the Kansas State Department of Education. With a career spanning classroom teaching to state leadership, Dr. Nugent brought both wisdom and warmth to her address. Her talk emphasized the power of high standards, strong relationships, and the importance of celebrating progress. “Don’t lower standards to be kind; raise them because we believe our kids are capable,” she urged. With this challenge and a full day of collaboration ahead, attendees were released to begin their conversations.
Throughout the day, districts shared their focus areas and strategies for advancing foundational instructional practices. Goessel, Centre, Rural Vista, and Peabody-Burns highlighted their work with Kansas LETRS training and literacy interventions. Herington and Canton-Galva explored vertical and horizontal alignment to strengthen curriculum coherence. Canton-Galva showcased its evolving approach to screeners and progress monitoring. Solomon and Little River emphasized engaging lesson design and comprehensive instructional frameworks.
These efforts toward professional development have allowed for huge impacts in the school districts. Solomon, Goessel, Centre, and Canton-Galva celebrated rising graduation and postsecondary success rates.
Solomon
Graduation rate over 95% in 2023 and 100% in 2024
Goessel
100% graduation rate every year since 2021
Centre
Graduation rate climbed from 76.5% in 2023 to 97.7% in 2024
Canton-Galva
Postsecondary success rose from 36.9% in 2019 to 64.7% in 2022
Little River, Herington, and Rural Vista highlighted improvements in math and ELA performance across grade levels where a level 4 result equals demonstrating advanced ability to level 1 equaling indicated limited ability.
Little River
Over 50% of students scored levels 3–4 on math state assessments (2022–2024)
Herington
Since 2021, at least 10% fewer 3rd graders scored level 1 in ELA than the state average
Rural Vista
Yearly reduction in students scoring level 1 on math assessments (2022–2024)
Each group's conversations revealed shared challenges, creative solutions, and powerful reflections from educators. Chesney Clark of Herington and her group encouraged thoughtful use of AI to enhance instruction and efficiency as a tool. Multiple group educators discussed strategies for building test-taking confidence, providing our students with the capabilities to take a test. There was also discussion on each district’s phone policy where some districts with a more relaxed policy are recognizing that classroom engagement is decreasing. Many Elementary teachers are finding value in using technology to help teach core subjects to their students making learning more interactive and accessible. Finally, Brayden Unruh of Goessel, wisely pointed out that when teachers and activity sponsors show genuine interest in what students do, are interested in and who they are, students will have a much higher chance of wanting to be associated with that teacher, coach or sponsor.
By showing up each day for students, we see an increase in graduation rates, a decrease in learning intervention and an overall better engagement in the classrooms. As the day wrapped up, attendees left full from lunch provided by OPPA!, challenged to continue to hold high standards and overall eager to apply their collaborations into the classroom. Collaborative conversations can lead to engaging learning which can lead to strengthened connections among students and their educators.
