Lucie Krisman  - Blue Valley School District

Blue Valley teacher wins ‘Innovation Nation’ teacher award

Blue Valley Mike Farmer

Blue Valley CAPS instructor Mike Farmer earned a grand prize recognition in the Henry Ford's Innovation Nation Teacher Innovator Awards. Above, Farmer (on the far right) with his students at the Kansas City Invention Convention. Photo courtesy Kaci Brutto / Blue Valley School District.

A Blue Valley instructor has earned national recognition for inspiring his students.

Blue Valley CAPS instructor Mike Farmer earned a grand prize recognition in the Henry Ford’s Innovation Nation Teacher Innovator Awards.

The award recognizes educators who inspire their students to “challenge the rules and take risks, who demonstrate how to be collaborative and empathetic, and who teach the value of learning by staying curious and learning from failure,” according to the Blue Valley School District.

The award recognizes teachers who inspire and motivate

  • The Henry Ford Museum and Virginia-based aerospace company Raytheon Technologies co-sponsor the award.
  • Grand prize winners earn a five-day “Innovation Immersion Experience” at the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation in Dearborn, Michigan — as well as a year-long premium subscription to software and education company inHub.
  • Educators across the country earn the award by winning an annual contest each spring.

Farmer teaches an ‘Innovate’ course at Blue Valley CAPS

  • The school’s Innovation & Entrepreneurship course aims to teach students the “skills of an innovator” in order to build products or businesses.
  • In addition to teaching, Farmer also has founded a number of technology ventures, including mobile search app Leap2.
  • Farmer’s students earned victories of their own at this year’s Kansas City Invention Convention.

Other Blue Valley instructors recently earned accolades for innovation

  • Earlier this spring, two other Blue Valley teachers earned an “Innovative Educator Award” from the Blue Valley Educational Foundation.
  • The foundation awarded fellow Blue Valley CAPS teacher Kelley Tuel and Blue Valley North  teacher Chris Ollig with the $1,250 grants.
  • Former Blue Valley parents Ken Selzer and Deb Grimes fund the grants.

Go deeper: 2 Blue Valley teachers win cash for their classroom innovations

Hi! I'm Lucie Krisman, and I cover the city of Leawood and the Blue Valley School District for the Post.

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A bit about me and my background:

I'm a native of Tulsa, Okla., but have been living in Kansas since I moved here to attend KU, where I earned my degree in journalism. Prior to joining the Post, I did work for The Pitch, the Eudora Times, the North Dakota Newspaper Association and KTUL in Tulsa.