AUTHOR BIO

Jeff Baxter was a language arts teacher at Leavenworth High School, and finished his teaching career at Blue Valley West High School. A graduate of the University of Kansas with Bachelor’s Degrees in Education and English and a Master’s Degree in Secondary Education, he also has a Juris Doctorate from Washburn University School of Law.

 

Jeff has taught every level and grade of middle and high school students in his twenty-six years of teaching -- from non-readers to National Merit Finalists. He brings the same passion and excitement no matter who he is teaching. Every student is entitled to his best effort because every student can learn more than the student or others expect.

 

Presently, Jeff teaches AP Language and Composition, serves as Language Arts Department Chair, and is his school’s Academic Success Focus Group Chair. A fellow of the National Writing Project and teaching consultant with the Greater Kansas City Writing Project, Jeff has presented hundreds of workshops to middle and high school teachers and community college professors throughout the Midwest.

 

At Blue Valley West, Jeff taught AP-Lit and created a course titled Contemporary Communications. He was selected Most Inspiring Teacher by the National Honor Society in 2021.

 

Jeff is a passionate and dynamic teacher who believes in rigor, relevancy and relationships in all classroom activities. He is in the process of completing a book which began as a writing activity with his students. The book, More Than One Way Home, should be completed this summer (it was published in February 2018).

 

Jeff is the 2014 Kansas Teacher of the Year and was inducted into the 2018 National Teachers Hall of Fame.

 

B.S. Education and English, University of Kansas, 1971; M.S. Secondary Education, University of Kansas, 1976; J.D., Washburn University, 1986; fellow, National Writing Project, 2010.