Kris Ehling papers

Kris Alan Ehling was born April 11, 1959 in Hutchinson, Reno County, Kansas, and grew up on a wheat and hog farm west of Hutchinson, near Abbyville. He graduated in May 1977 from Fairfield High School and went on to earn a BA in Vocal Performance from Sterling College in Sterling, Kansas, in 1982.

After studying Art History at the University of Kansas in 1984, Ehling received his teaching license in History from Wichita State University in 1988. Starting in 1989, he worked in the Wichita Public Schools for 14 years as a classroom teacher, 4 years as an instructional coach, and since August 2007 as a learning coach, a MTSS (Multi-Tiered Systems of Support) Facilitator. Within the Wichita Public Schools system he has worked at Heights High School, John Marshall Middle School, James Mead Middle School, Charles Robinson Middle School, Charles Curtis Middle School, Southeast High School, Brooks Middle School, and Dean Ray Stucky Middle School before retiring in May 2019.

In 2009 Ehling completed a Master's degree in Educational Leadership at Wichita State University, where he was also an Instructor in their Curriculum and Instruction Department from October 2010-May 2016. Married to Bart Flickinger, they have an adopted Guatemalan son, Isaac "Ike" Alan Ehling Flickinger, born December 1999, who is on the autism spectrum.

Ehling has been active in gay rights advocacy in Kansas, as his correspondence with various legislators will reflect. He has also been active in musical theater, and his husband worked for the Music Theatre of Wichita for many years.