Category: Education

KCK school district to hold open house Thursday to recruit new staff

The Kansas City, Kansas, Public Schools District is kicking off several hiring campaigns as well as offering recruitment sessions to help hire new staff for the upcoming 2022-2023 school year.

The district is looking to hire teachers (K-12), substitute teachers, bus drivers, instructional aides, paraprofessionals, school nurses, nutritional service workers, support staff and more.

Open House and Career Fairs:

• There will be an open house, information session for retired teachers on Thursday, July 28, from 3:30 p.m. until 4:30 p.m. at Carl B. Bruce Middle School, 2100 N. 18th St., Kansas City, Kansas.

• There will be a certified and classified career fair Thursday, July 28, from 4:30 p.m. until 6:30 p.m. at Carl B. Bruce Middle School

• The Aug. 4 certified, and classified career fair takes place from 4:30 p.m. until 6:30 p.m. and will be held at Kansas City, Kansas, Public Schools Central Office, 2010 N. 59th St., Kansas City, Kansas.

All full-time new hires will receive a $1,500 sign on bonus after 90 days for joining the KCKPS district team. All part-time new hires will receive a $750 signing bonus after 90 days. Substitute employees will receive a pro-rated amount and some substitute positions will receive benefits.

Bus drivers wanted:

Those who join the team will receive their CDL (Commercial Driver’s License), free training and a free physical exam. New hires will also receive a minimum of $20.80 per hour and a $1,500 signing bonus after 90 days. If a new hire refers another bus driver and they join the KCKPS District, the new hire who referred another bus driver will receive an additional $100 referral bonus.

Retired teachers wanted:

Retired teachers who join the KCKPS family will continue to receive their KPERS retirement benefits. Retired teachers must have met the KPERS waiting period. Once hired, KCKPS will pay for KPERS penalties and for medical and other benefits, if needed. Those who join the KCKPS District will also receive $1,500 signing bonus after 90 days.

Applications for all open positions are accepted at www.careers.kckps.org

The KCKPS District serves more than 20,000 students and their families in Wyandotte County, Kansas, and is one of the most diverse communities in the country.

  • Story from Kansas City, Kansas, Public Schools

Earl Watson discusses childhood with local students

by Eve Loehrer (Jegna Klub intern)

On Tuesday June 28, Washington High School alumnus, former NBA player, and namesake of the Earl Watson Early Childhood Center appeared on the Jegna Klub’s Evening Social Podcast. Watson discussed his childhood, his time in the NBA, and his coaching career with podcast hosts Moses Wyatt and Jabrelle Janae.

Watson was a college athlete at UCLA before playing in the NBA for 13 years. When he retired from the NBA in 2014, he took an assistant coaching position for the Austin Spurs.

Currently, he serves as an assistant coach for the Toronto Raptors. After moving all over the country to play and coach for the NBA, Watson has returned to his Kansas City roots.

“We’re from a county that I think we take for granted. We’re from a county of free slaves,” Watson said about his childhood home, Wyandotte County, during the podcast. “That energy forever lives, right, and we don’t understand that power. We talk about superpower, that’s the source”

Now, Watson also works with his girls’ youth basketball program, Earl Watson Academy, in the Kansas City area because he believes everyone deserves an opportunity to improve in their skills and as a person. He works specifically with girls because women’s teams typically are given fewer resources and less support.

While Watson works with teens through basketball, the Jegna Klub offers teens the opportunity to work behind the scenes of the podcast. Through the Connecting the Dottes internship program, youth interested in broadcasting, social media, journalism, graphic design, and video production can develop their skills through real world experiences. Through these programs, Watson and Wyatt hope to bring opportunities to Kansas City so youth like them can achieve their goals.

“Somewhere along the line they made it seem like only one can make it, and that’s not true,” Watson said. “The world is bigger than the city we live in, our county. There’s opportunity everywhere.”

Nebraska Furniture Mart’s annual teacher rug giveaway today

Nebraska Furniture Mart will hold its annual teacher rug giveaway from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, July 23, in the lower lots at the store, 1601 Village West Parkway, Kansas City, Kansas.


Teachers with a valid ID will receive a free area rug while supplies last.


There is also a special “teacher loyalty pricing” on July 23.

For more information, see https://www.nfm.com/events/?loxi_pathname=%2Fkansas-city-teacher-rug-giveaway-3650.