Shawnee Mission North teacher has serious Facebook fans — 960 of ’em

School’s out for the summer at Shawnee Mission North this Thursday. But mixed with the glee that comes with the start of summer break is some anxiety that one of the school’s most beloved teachers, Ned Scott, won’t be back next year.

Scott, 52, is himself an SMN graduate, class of 1974. He’s been a teacher for 22 years, 12 at SMN, where he teaches world geography to freshmen. He’s also the sponsor of an after-school activity called the Combo Club, where kids bring their own instruments and jam to old songs. (Scott, as the tie-dyed shirt might indicate, is an old Deadhead.)

This year, he received three letters of reprimand from SMN’s principal, Richard Kramer, detailing the boss’s displeasure with Scott’s unorthodox teaching methods. “A lesson on Homies failed to address the curricular objectives of World Geography,” Kramer complained in a letter dated January 21. He ordered Scott to follow, unwaveringly, the course objectives outlined in district curriculum guides or risk termination.