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KNEA Leadership Team:

Blake West, KNEA President

Blake West has been a teacher for 30 years. Most of those years were spent teaching mathematics and computer science at the high school level in Blue Valley Schools in Overland Park, KS. Since 1983 he also provided technology staff development, served as a district technology curriculum coordinator; helped establish the mentoring, peer assistance, and collaborative Masters Degree programs for Blue Valley; and taught courses for Baker University, Mid-America Nazarene University, the University of Kansas, and the University of Missouri at Kansas City.

Blake has been a presenter at regional and national conferences on technology, mathematics, and leadership. In 1998, he was a winner of The Tandy Prize as an outstanding educator using technology in math, science, and computer science. He has published articles in several journals and in the 2003 book, How to Ensure Technology Is Not Oversold And Underused.

In the fall of 2001, he began a leave of absence from Blue Valley to serve full-time as Vice President and now, President for Kansas NEA. His efforts in the areas of school improvement, funding for quality public schools, and building a strong profession of teaching have been his focus both in Blue Valley and through the NEA. Along the way in his career, he earned a doctorate in the first “Instructional Leadership” cadre at the University of Kansas. He helped develop and implement Blue Valley ’s "new teacher" induction program, serving as a part-time peer assistant in 1997-1998. In addition to his duties as KNEA President he has served on the NEA Professional Standards and Practices committee and the NCATE Unit Accreditation Board, chaired the Kansas Learning First Alliance, represented teachers on Microsoft’s Partners in Learning project, and worked on a national task force studying quality issues around distance learning.  He also assisted with NCATE’s study of Urban Teacher Residency Programs.

Blake continues to provide leadership for school improvement as chairperson of the NEA Technology Compact Committee, a reviewer of the Partnership for 21st Century Skills' “Mile Guide”, and as a member of the Governor’s P-20 Council in Kansas. He is a member of NCATE’s Expert panel studying ways to increase attention to child and adolescent development in teacher preparation, as a member of the jointly formed NCATE and TEAC design team for the Council for Accreditation of Professional Education, and as one of the International Board of Reviewers to accredit teacher preparation programs abroad that are seeking to meet the high standards established by NCATE for U.S. programs.  His work, both within Kansas NEA and through partner organizations, is focused on the goal of Great Public Schools for Every Child.

Cindy West, Blake’s wife since 1979, is also a teacher - her specialty is early childhood education. Their son, Joshua, also works in Overland Park and serves in the Army National Guard Reserves. In Blake’s spare time, he regularly performs organ recitals at the Community of Christ Auditorium and Temple in Independence, Missouri.