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By ALAN HOSKINS, Kansan Contributor

Ken Bingman figured out there was a better way to see the world than stacking cookies, processing hamburger for lunches and digging ditches.
And on the way, he became a Hall of Fame teacher.

“I graduated from high school in Golden City, Mo., in 1956 at 17 and decided I wanted to see the world,” said Bingman. “I had bought a 1954 Chevy with money I’d saved from working on the farm and told mom and dad goodbye and headed out with $50 in my pocket and my car.”

Unfortunately, he got no farther than Kansas City when the money ran out and over the next four years, he would drive trucks and dig ditches for construction companies, stack tires for B.F. Goodrich, work for KC Beef Processing providing hamburger for lunches and stack cookies for Sunshine Bakery.

“Until I decided there was a better way,” says Bingman. “My two older brothers were biology teachers and were doing well and I had grown up on a farm so I knew a lot about nature so I decided I would learn about biology and then teach others about it.”

Now, 46 years after earning a BS in Biology from the University of Kansas and a Masters in Biology from Emporia State University, Bingman is still teaching biology – and winning awards.

The seventh Kansas teacher to be induced into the National Teachers Hall of Fame, Bingman will be inducted into the Mid-America Education Hall of Fame in gala ceremonies at Kansas City Kansas Community College Saturday, Nov. 7.

A fund-raiser for the KCKCC Endowment Association’s Scholarship Fund, the dinner and ceremonies are open to the public. Tickets are $65 and can be reserved by contacting the Endowment Association at 913-288-7632.

Bingman began his teaching career in 1963 at Wyandotte High School. After four years, he moved to Shawnee Mission West where he would teach for 34 years. He retired in 2001 only to be lured back into the teaching field when the new Blue Valley West High School opened that fall.

Over those 46 years, Bingman has taught Biology I, Honors Biology, College Now Biology and currently Advance Placement Biology – and made what would seem difficult curriculums fun.

“You’ve got to make it fun, otherwise teachers would burn out and the kids would not focus and learn,” he says. “It’s not silly fun but academic fun. We do a lot of things that are fun such as model building, team work, write poems, song, skits and other presentations. I share past experiences with the students and get to know them well and they share their experiences.

“My philosophy is that all students can learn and all students are important in the classroom, not just the ones who speak up. I make it a special point to be inclusive with all students. If a student isn’t speaking up, I talk to them, call on them. My attention to them shows them I care. Students are at different places in their journey of understanding and I want to help them reach as much of their own potential as possible. ”

Bingman’s love and enthusiasm for teaching, however, extends far beyond the classroom, so far that it has allowed him to achieve that boyhood dream of “seeing the world.”

His legacy of effective teaching practices have been shared in seminars and programs by countless educators at workshops all the way from Wichita State to Bridgewater College in Bridgewater, Maine, and Washington, D.C. 

“Ken’s steadfast leadership has helped guide the in-person training of hundreds of teachers from around the country using local, regional and national training opportunities,” says colleague Louise Dickerson. “Through on-going communication and mentorship, Ken serves as a resource for teachers new to using the curriculum.”

For 18 years, Bingman used his summer breaks to serve as a leader in the People to People Student Ambassador program.

Usually two to four weeks in length, Bingman has taken students to 26 countries. “They are the ultimate field trips,” he says. “You not only talk but experience new cultures and ways of life.”

Teaching highlights have included guest teaching at St. Jude’s School in Tanzania, Africa; teaching science in schools in Fiji, New Zealand and Australia; teaching students in Japan as part of the Fulbright program; teaching botany to Chinese children in the Peoples Republic of China; and teaching aerospace science to Russian students at Star City, the space-training center for the Peoples Republic of China. “Kansas students learned from Russian instructors and I taught aerospace,” he says. 

He’s also taken student delegations to experience the cultures of Spain, France, Italy, England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland; to study rainforest ecology on the Big Island of Hawaii; to study coastal Marine Biology in New Zealand and Australia and to experience the culture of Eastern Australia.

“The absolute delight of my life was teaching in a school house constructed out of poles and a thatched roof in Africa,” he says. “Watching them I realized that no matter what you have, no matter where you are in the world, you can learn and gain valuable lessons. Education is everywhere.”

He’s also headed several student research trips including taking winning students in the Space Student Involvement Program to Washington, D.C., and 30 students to the Kennedy Space Center to see a space shuttle launch.

The author of three publications, he’s developed numerous instructional biology and science materials as well as being a voice to be heard.

When the Kansas Board of Education removed evolution from science standards, Bingman joined others to lead the cause that reversed the decision and evolution currently stands as a strong component in Kansas’ high school science standards.

His efforts have not gone unnoticed. One of Kansas City’s most high acclaimed teachers, his list of awards is nearly as long as the number of countries he’s visited. Highlights include the Outstanding Biology Teacher of the Year in Kansas, 1978; Presidential Award for Excellence in Teaching Science awarded by Pres. Reagan, 1984;  National Space Educator of the Year, 1986; Kansas Teachers Hall of Fame, 1999; Kansas Teacher of the Year, 1999;  Biological Sciences Teacher of the year, 1999; National Honor Society Teacher of the Year, 1999; Fulbright Memorial Fund Award in Japan, 1999; Outstanding High School Science teacher, 2008; Kansas Master Teacher, 2008; National Teachers Hall of Fame, 2009; and as of Nov. 7, the Mid-America Education Hall of Fame, 2009.

Bingman and his wife, Mary, have one son, Jeff, a computer systems analyst in Overland Park, and he and his wife, Becky, have three granddaughters, Afton, Kara and Avery.

It is not his many accolades that Bingman wants to be remembered but “As a teacher who inspired people to be the best they can be. I want to be remembered not only for biology but as a person who inspired students to be lifelong learners.”