The Governor of Kansas, Laura Kelly, visited North High on Thursday to visit and tour the Automotive Technological Center and the Future Ready Center.

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CHRIS SINCLAIR

Governor Kelly talked about her experience here at North High. One thing she said she enjoyed was the drum line that played for her when she came up the sidewalk. “It was just fantastic,” she said. “My daughter went to Topeka High and they also had a drum line.” Kelly mentioned how the drum line at North reminded her of the drum line her daughter got when she graduated.

There was a roundtable set up for journalists to ask the Governor questions. When asked about her plan of COVID recovery, she shared her plan for Kansas entirely. “On things like the mask mandate, we’ve followed from the very beginning the CDC guidelines on that.” She went on to talk about CDC recommendations and how she will be following those for Kansas all together. “That’s what we’re going to do, just continue to follow, at least from my office, the locals can make up their own minds, but from my office we’ll mirror what’s coming out from the CDC.” She told me they’re focusing on the economic recovery from the pandemic. “So we are putting a group together that will be looking at all the funding coming from the federal government,” said Kelly. “So that we have something to show for it when its all over, we’ll be looking at a lot of infrastructure things, things we’ve needed to do but haven’t been able to do.” Her goal is to have Kansas come out of the pandemic in better shape than we went in with.

Principal Stephanie Wasko was glad to have the opportunity to show off the CTE programs at North. Also in attendance on the visit was Wichita Mayor Brandon Whipple, Superintendent of USD 259 Alicia Thompson and USD 259 BOE President Stan Reeser, among others.

“The purpose of the governor’s visit was to tour Career Technology Education programs in Wichita Public Schools and to visit with district administrators about COVID’s effects on academics, social-emotional wellness and how new funding could be used to address some of the problems from COVID,” Wasko said. She said, “My favorite part of the visit was the opportunity the governor was given to watch students at work and talk with North High students who were on the tour.”