Conard resigns teaching post to start foundation

UNIONTOWN -- Uniontown Junior Senior High School teacher Norm Conard recently chose to leave USD 235 to pursue another unique educational opportunity, but he leaves behind a lasting legacy that few teachers ever achieve.

Leaving a school district he has grown to love during his 20-year teaching career in Uniontown was not easy, Conard said during a Thursday interview.

"Leaving Uniontown High School is one of the toughest decisions in my career, but this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," Conard said. "My decision was just recently made, with joy and sadness. There are great students at UHS, and the Uniontown community has been wonderful for the past 20 years."

Conard, a ninth-through-12th grade social studies and video production teacher at UJSHS, said he is not exactly retiring, as he will soon begin work on a new educational venture, which he called a "one-time" opportunity, that will take up all of his time and efforts.

"I'm not retiring; my work schedule is going to be more hectic," he said. "I am not leaving teaching; my classroom will be the world instead of a room in Uniontown."

Conard said the time is now for him to start a national educational foundation in Fort Scott this fall. Conard said he will be in charge of the education center, which will be located in an as-yet undetermined facility. The center will employ several people who share a common goal; to teach respect and understanding among all peoples of the world, Conard said.

"We are excited about locating in Fort Scott and being in the same community as the Ellis Foundation and the Gordon Parks Center," he said. "Our community has been honored with the work of Danny, Willa and Chris Ellis, as well as Jill Warford. We hope to compliment their educational activity."

The seed money to fund the new education center recently became available, Conard said, so this was the perfect time to start up the center, to which he will now devote all of his time. The new center will feature projects very similar to the flagship project his students created several years ago, Conard said.

"We will develop projects with schools around the world, projects like Life in a Jar," he said. "These projects will be in the form of performances, documentaries and exhibits, or other creative ideas."

The student-driven Life in a Jar project tells the story of Irena Sendler, a previously unrecognized heroine of the Holocaust who had smuggled 2,500 children out of the Warsaw ghetto during World War II. Inspired by Sendler's story, Conard's students wrote the play, "Life in a Jar," (still performed by current and former students) in 1999 for a National History Day project, and spread her story throughout the world, gaining national recognition through appearances on CNN, National Public Radio, and CBS, as well as coverage in hundreds of national newspapers and magazines.

Conard is also the director of the Life in a Jar Foundation, created in Sendler's honor.

In March, after visiting Uniontown to collect information for a news story, the NBC television program "The Today Show" aired a segment about Sendler that featured Conard and some of his students who founded the project.

During his time teaching in Uniontown, Conard's students have created more than 85 projects that teach respect and understanding through historical examples.

Conard said he will miss teaching "tremendously," and all of the teachers, students, and administrators he worked with over the years.

"I'm sure when that first day of school starts this year, it will hit me," he said. "Turning my resignation into Mr. (USD Superintendent Randy) Rockhold was very difficult. Even with this great opportunity, I feel bittersweet about leaving some incredible young people and many friends. This year's senior class is such a special group and I will dearly miss them. There have been so many special moments over the past twenty years, so many times of great joy and learning."

The new educational center will be a non-profit foundation funded by money from the Milken Family Foundation in California, but the center will not be directly connected to the MFF, Conard said.

"I will not be working for the Milken Foundation, this will be Fort Scott's own center, working with projects around the world," he said. "We will occupy offices in Fort Scott and network with schools everywhere. Also we will have an exhibit area in the office."

More information on the center will be available this fall, and Conard said he and his staff have scheduled an opening in August, and a grand opening in the spring of 2008. Each year, the center will choose two exemplary teachers from across the country to work with Conard and his staff for one month during the summer, Conard said. Two young interns who are interested or involved in education will also work at the center for one month during the summer, he said.

Conard also addressed recent rumors circulating through the community concerning his decision to leave his teaching job in Uniontown.

"People have asked if the center is all about Life in a Jar and the answer is 'No.' These projects and the center will be separate from Life in a Jar, even though we will continue the play and the Irena Sendler project," he said.

Conard said despite this new endeavor, he will still continue to stay involved with USD 235 activities in the future.

"It was a wonderful 20 years," he said. "I made several great friends, and built several relationships."

Conard is also a National Board certified teacher, who was named Kansas Teacher of the Year in 1992, and National Social Studies Teacher of the year in 1994. He has also received the National Civil Rights Award, the 2004 Governors Award, and was named the All-American Teacher by USA Today in 2001. Last month, he was the 85th teacher inducted into the National Teachers Hall of Fame during ceremonies in Emporia.

Among several other state and national awards he has received during his career, Conard was also one of two inaugural recipients of the new Irena Sendler Award that was presented in Warsaw, Poland in March. The award, which includes a trophy and a $10,000 gift, is presented annually to one American and one Polish educator who represent the teaching of respect for all people, in the spirit of Sendler.