A teacher's journey - Ken Benson

Ken Benson has been a teacher at Niwot High School for the past 21 of his 22 year teaching career. While he's not done yet, he has had an incredible journey, making a lasting impact not only with students, but on the school as a whole.

Benson has primarily taught social studies at Niwot, with classes including world studies, economics, German, and the history of rock. This past October, Benson received an opportunity of a lifetime and will be traveling to South Korea for two years to further his teaching experience while working at an international school teaching economics.

His career began somewhat unexpectedly. As a student at Colorado State University, he spent his undergraduate years studying economics and German with no real career objective at the time. His brother Ron had a startup tech company working in Automated Intelligence in the 90s, but when financial obstacles occurred and the company downsized, Benson became the CEO for 18 months at the age of 22. He then spent time working with a few different tech companies as programmer and business developer, and would later share those experiences as lessons to students in his economics classes at NHS.

He took advantage of an opportunity to go to New Zealand to earn his master's degree in international business. During his time in New Zealand, "Lord of the Rings" was being filmed nearby and he became friends with one of the crew members who worked with the horses during large battle scenes, which Benson described as a memorable experience. After earning his degree, he moved back to Denver and continued working with online business development and "dot coms."

A friend then encouraged Benson to apply for an open teaching position in Thornton. There he would teach eighth grade history and science. He earned his teaching license on Saturdays and worked with mentors throughout the year to better learn how to work with students. "That first year was tough," Benson said, "It was a crash course in the deep end of being a teacher."

After one year at the Thornton school, he saw an opening at NHS and applied. However, the open positions were for a full-time or part-time social studies teacher. With only one year of experience under his belt, he did not feel confident as school districts usually hired from within the district. "There was no way I'd get the position," he thought at the time.

It was recommended to him that he include his ability to speak German as a part of his cover letter, since Niwot also had an opening for a part-time German teacher. Benson had studied abroad in Germany during his undergraduate career.

After going through the interview process with then-Principal Don Haddad, he was hired to teach both social studies and German. "They took a big chance on me with one year's experience," Benson said.

Benson has been in a few different classrooms during his time at NHS, but remembers that first year when his classroom was in the wrestling loft because nothing else was available. After parents complained about the heat, Benson got his own classroom in the social studies wing the following year. He has been there ever since.

Benson said his 21-year NHS tenure is due to the school's atmosphere. "Everyone is respectful, we provide tons of great programs, and of course we have really great students," he said. "(Niwot is) the right sized school, not overwhelmingly big with too many programs, but not too small that you can't breathe."

In addition to teaching regular classes, Benson has also been a part of the National Honor Society, the Student of the Month Committee, the Education Foundation, and was briefly the "unofficial tech assistant."

In 2006, Benson led a group of students on a 3-week trip to Germany where they had the opportunity to live with host-families in and around Munich. Every morning they took language classes, then they would take the train downtown to gain cultural experiences such as touring castles and experiencing musical festivals. Benson has also participated as a chaperone on school trips to Italy, Greece, China, and Paris.

Benson's teaching philosophy is about engaging with students through more than lectures and notes. He has provided his own life experiences working with startup tech companies, and has created a modified version of Monopoly for his economics course to teach the exchange of money and dollar-value.

Because of his impact in teaching at Niwot and his work throughout the state, as well as presentations across the country concerning curriculum and student engagement, Benson has been recognized with several awards and honors including the Eleanor Venture Travel Grant (2008), Educator of the Year for NHS (2007-2008), "You're the Top" St. Vrain Valley Education Foundation finalist (2009), recipient of the Economic Educator Study Tour - South Africa grant (2009), Encore and Spotlight Award Winner from the SVVSD Education Foundation (2013), St. Vrain Superintendent's Excellence in Education Award (2017), Koelbel Enterprising Teacher of the Year Award (2017), and the Commissioner's Teacher Cabinet (2020).

Benson also helped write the St. Vrain Personal Financial Literacy (PFL) textbook and curriculum currently used throughout SVVSD.

Benson has always wanted to teach abroad, especially given his experience in travel and culture. He was put in contact with someone who recently moved to Cairo with a company that helps with teacher placement around the world. After receiving an offer from an American school in JeJu, where he will be teaching AP economics and World Civilizations, he got in contact with another former teacher from NHS, Astrid Felter, who taught in South Korea a few years ago.

"[There's] lots of interesting history on the island," Benson said. "[I'm] excited for all the new adventures and this new culture I've never experienced before." Benson also said that doing something like this, "There is never a right time, but it's always the right time." He will miss his family and two children (both graduated from NHS), and has grown so used to the dynamic at Niwot, especially with two long-standing administrations, it will be a very big change. However, Benson hopes to return to Niwot when his time in Korea is done.

Benson is not only an impactful educator, but has been a part of four NHS musicals, making cameo appearances in Oklahoma, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Grease, and Shrek (2024).

Outside of education, Benson enjoys playing bass guitar and has played with a few different groups and friends. He has also recently gotten into improv groups and hopes to start an improv club at the school in South Korea. "[Improv] forces you to become a better listener and learn how to work with others," Benson said.

"You're never too old to do (something) new," he said. "Make new friends, find new communities, get new experiences. Get yourself out there and succeed or fail, but don't be somewhere in the middle."