24 Jul Foundation hosts 12th annual Arts Symposium
The Norene Ketcherside Endowment for the Arts hosted educators from across Kansas for its annual Symposium and Teachers Workshop, held July 24–25 at the McPherson Opera House. The event offers a free, arts-based professional development opportunity for K–12 teachers across the state.
Since its launch in 2014, the symposium has grown to attract more than 30 teachers annually from across the state. Many attendees return year after year, citing the rarity of free, high-quality professional development, and the immediate classroom value it provides.
Each year, the symposium focuses on a new theme. The 2025 theme was Investigating High-Quality Instruction Through Cross-Curricular, Concept-Based Learning. The goal of concept-based instruction is to help students apply learning across multiple disciplines and transfer knowledge to new situations. The workshop also explores strategies for helping students find deeper purpose in learning.
This year’s attendees participated in hands-on sessions showcasing how concept-based approaches can be enhanced through arts integration.
The 2025 workshop featured three Kansas-based instructors with expertise in cross-disciplinary teaching through the arts:
Audra Krueger, seventh-grade English language arts teacher, Clearwater Intermediate Middle School
Michal Austin, CTE graphic design instructor, Flinthills School District
Amanda Martin, art and museum educator, and director of the Wyandotte County Historical Society and Museum
Educators who attended both days of the workshop received a $200 classroom grant from the Norene Ketcherside Endowment for the Arts, administered by the McPherson County Community Foundation. The grant is intended to help teachers purchase supplies that allow them to bring the concepts learned at the symposium back to their classrooms.