District-level 'Teachers of the Year' visit Fort Scott for learning tour

FORT SCOTT, Kan. — Eight Kansas Teacher of the Year district-level winners are in Fort Scott today, learning about different educational strategies.

They're visiting home campus of the ninth 2025 district winner, Fort Scott High School social studies teacher Sara Jackman.

The site was also chosen because Fort Scott is home to a 2024 district winning teacher, Amy Harper.

The teachers are in the process of visiting seven different districts.

They're looking for new educational ideas they can implement in their own districts.

For example, they got breakfast prepared by the high school's new kitchen collective, and snacks prepared by the family and consumer sciences class.

"Really kind of opens up like, 'Oh, hey! You know, we could do that too. Like, it's really neat that they do that. How can we bring that to our school?' And then kind of solidifies some of the things that we've done. It's kind of made us feel like, 'Okay, we might be on the right track,'" said Sara Jackman, Fort Scott HS social studies teacher.

Jackman says the other teachers are getting a chance to see the best Fort Scott schools have to offer, like the newspaper program, welding program, and computer program.

The tour also includes other campuses in the district, as well as a look at downtown Fort Scott.