KU News Release

Oct. 2, 2006
Contact: Margey Frederick, KU Visitor Center, (785) 864-7103.

A second ‘wind’: School of Education faculty to take one-day tour of Kansas

LAWRENCE — When Rick Ginsberg, dean of the School of Education at the University of Kansas, traveled the Kansas countryside on the Wheat State Whirlwind Tour in May, he was so impressed he couldn’t wait to do it again.

On Thursday, Oct. 11, Ginsberg will have his chance as he and 50 other faculty and staff members from the School of Education take a “Tour of the Heartland” to learn about Kansas’ rich history and culture.

Ginsberg and his colleagues will take a one-day trip to soak up the state’s sites, meet local residents and learn about issues important to public educators in Cottonwood Falls and Council Grove. Along the way they’ll stop at the Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site in Topeka, visit a national preserve and tour the historic downtown areas in Cottonwood Falls and Council Grove.

“The Wheat State Whirlwind tour served two incredible functions,” Ginsberg said. “First, it provided the opportunity to visit and get to know communities across the state that our students come from. I got to meet a number of wonderful people from these communities. Second, it was a great vehicle for people who hadn't spent much time together before to bond. I kept thinking that this would be a wonderful thing for the faculty and staff across the School of Education to experience.”

The group’s first stop will be in Topeka at Monroe School, the Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site. The site commemorates the Supreme Court decision that struck down school segregation in the United States in 1954. Deborah Dandridge, field archivist for the African-American collections in KU’s Spencer Research Library Kansas Collection, will address the group.

From there, the bus will take the educators to Cottonwood Falls in Chase County. Once there, the group will tour the downtown area and the community’s historic courthouse. The Chase County Courthouse is the oldest continuously used courthouse in Kansas. They will have lunch at the Grand Central Hotel, where Rick Weiss, Chase County Unified School District superintendent, will speak.

Following lunch, the bus will travel to the Z-Bar Ranch and Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve. From there, the group will travel to Council Grove in Morris County, traveling past the Old Kaw Mission just outside the city. In Council Grove, tour participants will visit the downtown area, meet with local residents and speak with Diane Miller, superintendent of USD 417. After Miller’s presentation, the tour will return to Lawrence.

Ginsberg said he not only wanted the School of Education faculty and staff to see new parts of Kansas, but to take part in the unique learning experience that comes with a trip modeled after the Wheat State Whirlwind Tour, a six-day, 1,500-mile trek across Kansas.

“I felt that my days on the tour were very educational and taught me things about Kansas that I dare say most native Kansans don’t know,” said Ginsberg. “I’ve been to places many of them have never seen and met many former students and mothers and fathers, even grandparents of students we serve. I also learned what great respect the people of the state have for KU. When the governor of a state takes the time out of her busy schedule to meet with 50 of us from the university, as Gov. Sebelius did this past May, you know that we hold a special place here.”

The full itinerary for “A Tour of the Heartland” is below.

7:50 a.m. — Load bus at Joseph R. Pearson Hall, KU

8 a.m. — Depart for Topeka

8:40 a.m. — Arrive Monroe School, the Brown v. Board of Education National Historic site. Speaker: Deborah Dandridge

9:40 a.m. — Depart for Cottonwood Falls

11 a.m. — Arrive Cottonwood Falls. Tour downtown, courthouse

11:50 a.m. — Lunch at the Grand Central Hotel. Speaker: Rick Weiss, superintendent of Chase County USD

1 p.m. — Depart for Z-Bar Ranch and Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve

1:15 p.m. — Arrive Z-Bar Ranch

2 p.m. — Depart for Council Grove. Point of interest: Old Kaw Mission

2:30 p.m. — Arrive Council Grove. Tour downtown, talk to residents and Diane Miller, superintendent of USD 417

3:30 p.m. — Depart for Lawrence

5 p.m. — Arrive Lawrence

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