Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools (KCKPS) Mission:
Inspiring Excellence: Every Grownup, Every Child, Every Day.
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2004 Alumni Honor Roll | Reasons to Believe
Role models who give us Reasons to Believe in the power of education
Rev. Dr. Selwyn Q. Bachus
Sumner Academy of Arts and Science, 1985
High standards were both a blessing and a challenge for Selwyn Bachus while growing up in the Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools. He said there were times when he felt he could not achieve at the level expected of him. But through the support of his parents and a number of teachers, he met these standards and began to believe in himself.
Perhaps his proudest moment came when he tested well enough to be invited to attend Sumner Academy of Arts and Science. It gave him a sense of his abilities and encouraged him.
Today the pastor and former teacher in the district, looks back on those days with a sense of gratitude. "They never let me achieve less than I was able to," he said.
Currently the pastor of Shiloh Baptist Church, Dayton, Ohio, Bachus accepted his "call to ministry" when he was a freshman in college at Emporia State University. He said he decided to continue his teaching degree and perhaps work part-time in the ministry.
After graduating and teaching at Douglas and M.E. Pearson elementary schools, the calling grew stronger and he knew ministry work was where he needed to be. He enrolled in the School of Theology at Virginia Union University in Richmond, earning his master of divinity, magna cum laude, in 1995. In 2001, he received his doctor of ministry from United Theological Seminary, Dayton.
He believes that the combination of a commitment to education and a strong intimate relationship with God has helped him to achieve success in his life and he recommends this to today's students.
"When you have those two things working together for you, there is nothing you can't do," he said.
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