KU alumnus honored as 2024 Kansas Teacher of the Year

It was a “surreal” and humbling moment that Taylor Bussinger says he’ll never forget: Bussinger, d’14, g’19, in September 2023 was named the 2024 Kansas Teacher of the Year—chosen from seven other finalists and more than 120 nominees—at a Wichita ceremony.

“I was shocked,” says Bussinger, an eighth-grade social studies teacher at Olathe’s Prairie Trail Middle School for 10 years. “I don’t even consider myself the best teacher within a three-class radius of my building.”

The Lawrence native and resident hugged his wife, Jill Nowak Bussinger, d’12, g’16, and thought about his parents, who worked as Dillons grocery managers for a combined 88 years. “I’m a first-generation college grad,” Bussinger says. “How much they sacrificed for me.”

A beloved “high-energy” teacher, Bussinger was welcomed back to his school with a parade. He says teaching is about inspiring curiosity, uplifting student voices and “striving to make students feel understood and valued.” That lofty goal, he says, is achieved with “authenticity and showing genuine care for another human being.”

“Having those real-world conversations, asking about their family and friends, is gold for me because I hear about who they are,” Bussinger says. “Some of the biggest things that make me feel good about teaching is when kids tell me, ‘Your classroom feels like family, a community.’”

Former student Ellie Willson still feels the love. In her nomination letter, Willson said Bussinger was a “life-changing” teacher with a “classroom environment that fosters collaboration and community at an unparalleled level.”

Bussinger, known as Mr. Buss to his students, describes himself as a “lifelong learner in my classroom” and says he approaches education holistically: “It’s not about the end goal—the grades—but it’s learning who we are, what our passions are.” He prepares students for their own lifelong learning adventures by developing critical thinking, empathy and personal skills.

“Teaching is the best job there is,” Bussinger says. “I don’t know who I am outside of teaching. We have the power to change the trajectory of someone’s entire life, add value to people who have to change the world. It makes me a better person as I reflect on how I’m showing up in the world for young people. The one constant that remains is that people need other people; I need my students just as much as they need me.”

Bussinger’s teaching journey sparked as a struggling “B, C, D” student at Lawrence High when he became involved in peer education through prevention specialist Diane Ash, assoc., who spoke at elementary and middle schools about bullying, drugs and alcohol. “I saw my passion,” he says, “for talking about real-life stuff with other kids.”

Bussinger, who “liked the idea of transforming what education could be, because growing up I was never concerned about the bottom line of my grade,” attended Emporia State University and Johnson County Community College before transferring to KU, where everything finally clicked while learning social studies curriculum with Joe O’Brien, associate professor emeritus. Bussinger earned his education degree and became a social studies teacher at Prairie Trail, where then-girlfriend Jill Nowak was already teaching math. They teach down the hall from each other and both coach cross-country. “It feels like home,” Bussinger says.

He’s traveled the state for a year with the other seven finalists, advocating for teachers and students at colleges, and solo for the Kansas Future Teachers Academy and other organizations. He describes his statewide outreach as “the best professional development of my life,” and his official travels even took him to Washington, D.C., where he and Teacher of the Year winners from across the country met with legislators on Capitol Hill and members of President Biden’s cabinet, toured Smithsonian museums, and were hosted at a White House dinner by first lady Jill Biden.

“I’ll be processing that,” he says, “probably for a lifetime.”

Bussinger smiles while sharing a story about encountering a Marine guard stationed at the summit of a White House staircase who said to him, “I have a message for you.”

“‘Oh gosh, what did I do?’” Bussinger recalls with a laugh. “And he says, ‘Rock Chalk!’ He’s a KU grad, related to Phog Allen. We kind of nerded out and talked about KU stuff.”

A “music junkie,” Bussinger has an arm tattoo, inspired by a Dave Matthews Band lyric, that epitomizes his life and profession: When you give, you begin to live.

“I’m constantly thinking what it means to be a human being. What are we here for? It’s connecting to people. If I’m giving as much energy to what I’m involved in, that’s when I’m truly living. When I’m giving 110% to teaching, I feel really alive, loving my job. It’s a calling.”