Bill Kent's Personal and Professional Biography
by Bill Kent
August 16, 2010
Personal History
I was born in St. Joseph, Missouri, the younger of two children. Education was highly valued in the home in which I grew up, and as a result, my older sister and I both chose education as a career. She recently retired from the classroom after 30 years in the St. Joseph, Missouri public schools.
Educational Background
I attended public elementary and high schools in St. Joseph. After completing high school, I attended Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph, and was graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Education with a minor in Social Science. I earned, in December 2000, a Master of Science in Pedagogy (Curriculum and Instruction) from Peru State College.
Classroom Instructional History
My first teaching assignment was at Noyes Elementary in St. Joseph where I taught seventh and eighth grade Science and Social Studies for one year. The next year, I was assigned by the district to Benton High School where my duties included teaching World Cultures to sophomores and history electives to Juniors and Seniors. In June of 1976, I resigned my teaching position and my wife and I moved to Sabetha where we began a crop and hog farming operation north of town. In August 1992, I returned to the classroom after a 16 year absence and began teaching eighth grade social studies at Sabetha Middle School. Courses I currently teach at SMS include a survey class in American history and a career exploration mini-class, The Real Game. I have served, during my tenure at Sabetha Middle School, as an assistant coach in volleyball, track, and basketball, but currently only assist with seventh and eighth grade girls volleyball.
Personal and Family Information
Ann, my wife of 38 years, is a 1969 Sabetha High School graduate, and was attending Missouri Methodist Hospital's School of Nursing in St. Joseph, Missouri when we met. Following her graduation from nurses training, we were married in December 1972, and lived in St. Joseph until moving to Sabetha in June 1976. Together we have raised three children. Rachael Donohou, the oldest, lives in Independence, Missouri with her husband Eddie where she is a Registered Nurse at a large hospital in the Kansas City area. Our second daughter, Naomi, is employed by a suburban Kansas City police department as a dispatcher. Micah, our son, and the youngest of the children, lives in Topeka and is employed as an auto collision repair technician there.
Ann works as a Registered Nurse at The Apostolic Christian Rest Home in Sabetha where she serves as an assistant to the Director of Nursing. We currently live on the same small farm north of Sabetha to which we moved when we came to the community 34 years ago. I enjoy, in my leisure time, reading historical fiction and biographies as well as watching historical documentaries, golf, gardening, and traveling to historic sites.
