TOPEKA—Susan Sittenauer, a civil and criminal rights teacher at Seaman High School since 1984, has been named the 2003 national Law-Related Education Teacher of the Year by the American Lawyers Auxiliary, a national network of lawyers' spouses affiliated with the American Bar Association.
Mrs. Sittenauer will receive the award, as well as a check for $1,000, at the ABA's annual meeting August 9 in San Francisco. She was nominated for the award by the Kansas Citizen and Law Education project, a joint effort of the Kansas Supreme Court and Kansas Bar to initiate and develop law-related education in the state's school system.
Chief Justice Kay McFarland said Mrs. Sittenauer exemplifies a growing cadre of Kansas school teachers who are teaching students about the rule of law and increasing their understanding of the institutions of American constitutional democracy and the fundamental principles and values on which they are founded.
Mrs. Sittenauer, a veteran of 17 years at Seaman High initiated a course that became so well-received that the USD 345 Board of Education has expanded it into a multi-course curriculum, which has grown from approximately 40 students to 130 who sign up for one of her now five law-related courses she teaches each year.
Besides teaching about the criminal justice system, Mrs. Sittenauer is chair of the Seaman Social Studies Department and the coordinator of both the Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) and the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) programs.
Among her law-related education teaching strategies, she emphasizes essential concepts of democracy, justice, equality, liberty, and the law. "The curriculum fosters the knowledge, skills, and values students need to become positive members of society," she said. "I carefully choose materials that motivate students' interest and cause them to think critically, problem solve and communicate effectively," she explained.
To accomplish her teaching goals while maintaining high student interest, Mrs. Sittenauer uses hands-on, interactive instructional strategies, which include a host of simulations, such as mock trials, mock DUI-caused accidents staged by local law enforcement, role plays of school boards confronted with violence in their schools, freedom of speech exercises and many more that captivate her students' attention.
She also co-created the practice of all government teachers at Seaman requiring seniors in government classes to complete a minimum of six community service hours per semester. The hours can be achieved through volunteerism by any one of a variety of ways, including such things as volunteering to work on a political campaign, serving dinner at a homeless shelter, voter registration drives, building a house for Habitat for Humanity and others.
Mrs. Sittenauer and her family will travel to San Francisco as guests of the American Bar Association and the Kansas Bar Foundation, which is defraying travel expenses. The award is part of a 40-year effort of the American Lawyers Auxiliary in its support of public education, citizenship awareness, and various public service programs. Recognizing the vital role that teachers play in law-related education, the Auxiliary recognizes one teacher each year who has made outstanding contributions to law- related education and whose programs have:
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furthered the understanding of the role of the courts, law enforcement agencies and the legal profession in society;
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helped students recognize their duties as well as their rights;
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encouraged effective law-related education programs in their schools and communities; and
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increased communication between students, educators, and those involved professionally in the legal profession.