By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
A memoir published in 2018 and republished earlier this year is gaining traction. Jeff Baxter, a 1966 graduate of Great Bend High School and 2014 Kansas Teacher of the Year, is using his own story of growing up in Great Bend and later battling depression to help a new generation of students.
"When you think that the second-leading cause of death of those between 14 and 23 is suicide, I wanted to write something about how you overcome these things," he said. "What things you need to find, how you get through it, what things matter. That is what my book is about, finding hope."
"More Than One Way Home" originally featured cover art from the publisher. It was not personal enough for Baxter, who asked if artist and friend Brad DeLuc could come up with something better.
"I said, 'Read the first two chapters. What do you see?'" Baxter said. "That's what he saw is the cover of the book. In fact, he looked up old pictures of 1301 Morton in Great Bend, Kansas."
After graduating from GBHS, Baxter began a successful career as an English teacher in 1971. More than 20 years later, he thought he had it all: a beautiful wife and three incredible kids. But he was also battling depression.
"Ultimately, what we found out was I never went through the grieving process with the death of our first child or the death of my grandmother, who I was really close to," he said. "One day, my therapist said, 'Jeff, can you recall a time when you were most at peace?' This image came up almost instantly: sitting on the front porch with my grandmother."
That scene would ultimately become the cover of his book but not before some large personal transformations. Baxter was the subject of a CNN feature after he lost 270 pounds from 2010-13. His weight had ballooned to 475 pounds and was costing him everything. As he lost the weight, he gained steam in the classroom to earn the 2014 Kansas Teacher of the Year honor. In 2018, he was inducted into the National Teacher Hall of Fame.
Baxter grew up around words thanks to his mother and grandmother. He'd long enjoyed writing but the idea of turning thoughts into chapters escaped him.
"I didn't start thinking I was going to do a book until students saw some of my writing," he said. "They would share it with their moms or dads. Over the years, they said I should figure out a way to tell this whole story because people need to hear it. That's when I began to think about the story."
As he suffered from chronic depression for several years, Baxter never thought he would one day call it a blessing. But he realized he could see similar pain in students. He often let them know he was there to listen.
"One of the things that marked me as a great teacher was I really cared about my students," he said. "I built trust relationships with them. I still hear from students I taught as far back as 1971."
The desire to help young people was ultimately a driving force for writing the book. Baxter's own struggles are universal across all generations and he wanted to share his journey.
"I wanted it to be about overcoming difficulties, overcoming setbacks, dealing with things like that and what the process is," he said. "Ultimately, here is how you find hope."
Baxter taught at Leavenworth High School for more than 20 years. He spent the last nine years of his career at Blue Valley West High School before his retirement in June.
CLICK HERE to purchase a copy of "More Than One Way Home."