Interviews Archive - Kansas Oral History Project

Interview of Steve Abrams, June 26, 2025

Interviewed by Mark Tallman

Steve Abrams grew up loving to read and as an adult found it incomprehensible that others could not learn to read. His involvement as a member of his local board of education was initially focused on the issue of reading. He later championed Career and Technical Education training as another option for students while he served on the State Board of Education and on the Senate Education Committee. The interview has a substantive discussion of some of the issues the state board encountered during Abrams' term: No Child Left Behind, the Nation at Risk Report, Show Morestate assessments, standards for local schools, Quality Performance Accreditation, to name a few. Abrams states that it’s not easy to solve the issue of “wanting education to be successful for the students in the state of Kansas and still be affordable for the citizens of Kansas.” Show Less

Interview of Christy Levings, June 9, 2025

Interviewed by Mark Tallman

Christy Levings’ interview highlights how schools and educators have adapted to significant changes in education over the past fifty years and how professional organizations such as the Kansas National Education Association (KNEA) and Kansas Association of School Boards (KASB) worked together in making those changes. Levings spent time as a national and state officer in the NEA and worked in forty-two different states. She credits her undergraduate years at Washburn University with instilling in her the need for “learning all the time…being a scholar.” Throughout her professional career, she has been committed to helping teachers and administrators Show Moreimprove their skills and the educational opportunities of their students and to advocating for the teaching profession. Show Less

Interview of Carol Strickland, June 9, 2025

Interviewed by Mark Tallman

In Carol Strickland’s first teaching job her principal told that she had to do two things “You have to let the students know that you care about them, and you have to treat them all the same.” That advice set her up for success. She also had mentors, veteran teachers who helped her organize, who gave her the structure she needed in her classes. She noted that there is not one program that works for everyone because “children learn differently”. In the interview she gives examples of including special education children in regular classrooms, teaching immigrant children Show Morewho need English instruction, and the changes that technology brought to teaching. There was a discussion of how to teach children to read as well as how to train teachers. Strickland makes a case for recognizing teachers through the National Teacher Hall of Fame. She ends the interview asking, “How do we make school a ‘joyous’ experience again?” Show Less

Interview of Phyllis Garibay-Coon, May 13, 2025

Interviewed by Linda Utoff

Phyllis Garibay-Coon, the artist who created Rebel Women, the most recent mural installed in the Kansas Statehouse, describes her journey as an artist including the importance of the support she found in the Manhattan, KS community. Garibay-Coon is the first woman to have her mural installed in the Statehouse. She is interviewed by Linda Uthoff, League of Women Voters of Manhattan/Riley County. During the interview, conducted a few months after the mural was unveiled on the 2025 anniversary of Kansas becoming a state, Garibay-Coon describes the Kansas suffragists who are the most prominent figures in Show Morethe painting. She also describes how the state and local historical societies and families of those suffragists contributed to how she imagined the mural. Garibay-Coon credits the League of Women Voters of Kansas, the AAUW of Kansas, and generous individual donors who made this public art possible.

Highlights -- short excerpts from the interview

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Interview of Connie Hubbell, May 21, 2025

Interviewed by Mark Tallman

Connie Hubbell is well-known in state government circles as an effective advocate for education, mental health and health care for seniors. She ran for the state board of education, winning three terms and later served as President of the National State Boards of Education organization. One of her significant accomplishments while on the Kansas state board was leading the board to mandate human sexuality AIDS education in Kansas public schools. Another was the inclusion of special education students into regular classrooms which began under her leadership of the National Association of State Boards of Education. Show MoreShe followed that experience with a run for Lt. Governor on the ticket with gubernatorial hopeful Senator Fred Kerr. Although they were not successful, three governors have subsequently noticed her management skills and offered her positions in their administrations, beginning with Governor Graves who appointed her Secretary of Aging. She has been an effective lobbyist for health care organizations, retiring as Director of Governmental Affairs for the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services in 2021. Show Less

Interview of Dale Cushinberry, May 21, 2025

Interviewed by Mark Tallman

In his interview, Dale Cushinberry describes how the adults in his life provided opportunities for him and led him to a career in education in the Topeka area. He taught elementary school, coached basketball, and counseled students. He moved into school administration as a principal when he spent four years at Highland Park High School as assistant principal. Washburn University offered him a position in the Education department where he served for seven years. Throughout his career, he has tried to also have a positive influence on his students’ lives. Cushinberry states during his Show Moreinterview, that “… our kids are victims of our system failures. Systems that fail around them, whether it be the home front, whether it be our school, whether it be our churches, on and on.” He believes that “It’s our job to create an environment, to create a culture where our kids can meet success.” He created that environment at Highland Park High School as its principal for 16 years. Cushinberry discusses his strategies and his philosophy for working with students and their families. Show Less

Interview of Frank Henderson, May 21, 2025

Interviewed by Mark Tallman

At the time when a group of high school students discovered that Fred Seaman, the namesake of District 345 was the Exalted Cyclops of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920's, Frank Henderson was President of the Seaman School Board. His interview describes the process the board went through to investigate and analyze the students' recommendations to change the district name. At the end of the process, the name stayed, but Fred Seaman's photo and memorabilia were removed from the school buildings and placed in the museum. They aligned the district with the community, not Fred Seaman's Show Moreviews. He said the outcome didn't satisfy anyone but it was unanimous. Henderson's interview describes many challenging situations at the local, state and national level as he served on various state and national boards of education. Henderson and Tallman's exchange highlights major issues in education that affected school boards and local communities. The interview reflects Henderson's view that "Every Student Matters." He believes, "we, as fellow humans, have the responsibility to see the value in every person and do what we can to ...help that person fulfill their potential." Show Less

Interview of Alan Rupe, May 12, 2025

Interviewed by Mark Tallman

Alan Rupe's interview provides an historical perspective on school finance and school finance litigation. Rupe and John Robb represented the plaintiffs in the Montoy and Gannon lawsuits. After trying a lawsuit for the Newton School District, Robb suggested to Rupe that they try a suit against the state of Kansas over adequate and equitable funding of public education. Rupe said, "Count me in!" Since 1989 the two have partnered on school finance cases. In the interview Rupe discusses how earlier case judgments influenced their decision to move the focus of the litigation from the equal Show Moreprotection clause to Article 6 Section 6 of the Kansas Constitution and focus on the adequacy of school funding. Rupe details in the interview aspects of the litigation which continued for many years. Toward the end of the interview, Rupe offers this idea: "... one of the lessons that we learned as a result of Montoy is if you declare victory and spike the ball in the end zone and turn your back on the issue, things don’t get better. The legislature and politics will start moving the money away from the schools." Rupe's conclusion is "It’s the language in the constitution that has pushed the results that we’re seeing." Show Less

Interview of Sue Peterson, May 13, 2025

Interviewed by Mark Tallman

Sue Peterson reflects on how she became involved in state politics and how her various positions in the executive and legislative branches taught her “the process” it took to get anything accomplished in the Statehouse. She later used these experiences in her role as the Assistant to the President at Kansas State University (KSU) to help that institution secure significant opportunities. The interview includes stories about people and programs they championed. These opportunities included KSU’s selection as the location for the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility and the transformation of the Kansas Technical Institute in Salina into K-State Salina. Show MorePeterson shares that her role was “to advocate, and to educate, and…to defend” her institution. Show Less

Interview of Ed Berger, May 12, 2025

Interviewed by Mark Tallman

This oral history interview of Ed Berger, former State Senator and former President of Hutchinson Community College, focuses on the role of the community college in the educational system of Kansas. Community colleges were chartered in the 1960's in Kansas and required voter approval of a local referendum approved to begin operation. Seward, Barton, and Johnson counties were the last three to charter their respective community colleges in 1969. By 1990 there was a move to change governance of community colleges to the Kansas Board of Regents. That measure was not enacted. Show More Berger's interview focuses on the community aspect of these institutions and how their educational goals change as community needs mature. Distance learning, technical education, and linkages with economic activity of the communities are highlighted in the interview. Berger's describes his service in the Kansas Senate as it tried to unwind the "Brownback Tax Experiment" which had led to disruption of state finances. Berger's outlook is best described in this quote: "... Kansans are creative and resilient and... will find a way to adjust to it and still serve its public well..." Show Less

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