Blue Valley North science teacher earns national recognition

Some of Eric Kessler’s most memorable teaching moments at Blue Valley North High School have happened outside his biology classroom.

Sarah Edwards, a 2004 graduate, remembers when her AP biology class tailgated together before they attended a lecture by biologist E.O. Wilson.

“(It) sounds like the ultimate nerdy science thing to do, but it was so much fun that my sister and I went back and joined up with his class to do it again once we were students at KU,” Edwards said. “…he actually made all of the biology courses I took in college, including a 400 level ecology class, much easier because he made me learn the material so well the first time.”

Bhart-Anjan Bhuller said he was never happier than when participating in Kessler’s class trips to fields and streams to study reptiles, fishes and amphibians.

“If there was a turning point in my life thus far, that was it,” Bhuller said. “His enthusiasm and knowledge cemented my intentions to become a biologist; indeed, many from that class went on to careers in science and medicine.”

Bhuller graduated from Blue Valley North in 2001 and is now a second-year doctoral student in Harvard’s department of Organism and Evolutionary Biology. He plans to dedicate his dissertation to Kessler.

Kessler has been named Kansas’ Outstanding Biology Teacher 2009. He will be honored later this year by the National Association of Biology Teachers. He was selected for the award based on his devotion to teaching biology, teaching ability, cooperativeness in the school and community, inventiveness, initiative, and student-teacher relationships.

For 18 years, Kessler has taken Blue Valley North students outside to help them learn about biology. Students this year have already been in the field identifying and learning about the anatomical parts and different species of grass. Many of his students come to his class not having spent much time outside, he said.

“They were out playing around in their neighborhoods when they were young and then once they start school teachers don’t take them outside anymore so they really lack a basic knowledge of what really is around them,” Kessler said. “One of my goals when I take them outside is to make them realize that as an adult you can go to these places and experience these things. Now that you are in a position to learn more about them, we use that experience.”

In Joe Delnero’s senior year he went on a field trip with Kessler to study snakes.

“(He) isn’t just interested in teaching a class, but getting active in his field of study,” Delnero, a University of Arkansas freshman, said. “He doesn’t just teach for money, but he teaches because it is a passion. Biology is a way of life for him.”

Kessler said he enjoyed being outside as a child. He often spent time outside collecting turtles with his dad. But it wasn’t until college that he started thinking about studying biology. Some of his college courses took him on outdoor trips.

“I realized, boy, I could really do this as a living,” he said.

Teaching allowed him to combine his knowledge in psychology and biology.

In 2007, Kessler was nationally recognized with a Milken Educator Award from the Milken Family Foundation. Next year he will begin teaching in a new classroom in the Blue Valley Center for Advanced Professional Studies facility.

While it “feels good” to be nominated for this award, Kessler said the award comes with a question: “a little bit of ‘why me?’”

“I work with a wonderful faculty from the teachers to the janitors to the librarian staff – we’re a community that works together to educate these kids,” Kessler said. “When the parents compliment me on something I’ve done in my class I always write back to them … ‘it’s a two-way street. It is not just me, it is your students.’ Students have demonstrated to me they want the relationship too. They want to build upon knowledge in biology.”

The Outstanding Biology Teacher Award was presented to Kessler and other state winners last week at the NABT National Professional Development Conference in Denver.

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