McPHERSON, Kan. — Ad Astra Radio is excited to announce the first Classroom Hero Award recipient of the 2026-2027 school year as McPherson High School Government/AP Government Teacher Bryan Little.
Each month, Ad Astra Radio randomly selects a different educator, from community nominations, to receive the Classroom Hero Award, along with a “Thank You” gift basket. Gift items are courtesy of community partners, including Peoples Bank and Trust, Midway Motors, Stutzman’s Greenhouse and Hutch Putt.
Mr. Little has been teaching for about 16 years. He first began his teaching career in Atwood, Kansas. He later moved to McPherson and started teaching at the high school in 2013.
“My family’s originally from the Topeka area,” Little said. “We were just a long way from home and wanted to get a little closer.”
Mr. Little graduated from Kansas State University, and obtained his master’s from Ashland University.
Government is a fascinating subject to Mr. Little because he has always been curious as to “why we do some of the crazy stuff that we do.”
When asked what he enjoys most about teaching, Mr. Little said, “Kids are fun. They always keep you on your toes and they’ve got a lot of natural curiosity.”
In addition to teaching, Mr. Little is also a debate coach at MHS.
“I’ve been associated with debate since about ‘99, and was in debate all through high school,” Little said. “I’ve been coaching pretty much ever since I got out.”
In a nomination submitted for Mr. Little, a community member shared that Mr. Little is “a phenomenal government teacher and debate coach. He is a very knowledgeable individual, and you can tell that he loves what he does.”
The nominator gave examples of this by sharing how Mr. Little decorates his classroom with graduation invites and up-to-date paintings of the house and senate seats.
The Classroom Hero Award seeks to highlight the hard work and dedication of those on the front lines in our local schools. Nominations are continually being accepted at https://www.adastraradio.com/classroomhero.
Ad Astra Radio has been locally owned and operated since 1986 and is proud to be your hometown radio station.
