Atchison High principal honored nationally for human dignity curriculum work

In Atchison classrooms, the Human Dignity Curriculum moved from a pilot lesson to a districtwide change in how students talk about respect, belonging and responsibility, and that work has now put Dr. LaTisha Williams on a national stage. The Atchison High School principal received the Mary R. Smith Award from the World Youth Alliance on March 5 at its 27th anniversary gala in New York City.

Williams was honored for helping bring the curriculum into USD 409 after it was first piloted in 2022 at Central School, then expanded to Atchison High School. That made Atchison the first public school in the country to adopt the program, a distinction that now reaches far beyond the district line. Benedictine College said the award recognized Williams for 25 years in education and for leadership that helped the program gain attention in the United States and abroad.

The curriculum itself is built around human dignity, freedom, creativity, friendship, human excellence, solidarity, history of ideas and human rights. Benedictine College said the program has been translated into dozens of languages and is used around the world. In Atchison, Kerra Downing teaches the curriculum, with help from Benedictine College students in the John Paul II Fellows program who assist in classrooms and mentor students.

That local partnership matters because the program has not been a symbolic add-on. Benedictine College said students and teachers in Atchison have been overwhelmingly positive about it, and the curriculum was originally piloted in the 4th and 6th grades at Central School with support from the college’s Center for Family Life. USD 409’s mission says the district works to remove barriers and provide a safe, caring environment, and the curriculum fits squarely within that aim by giving students language to talk about dignity and shared responsibility.

Williams’ work has also reached well beyond Atchison. Benedictine College said she presented on the curriculum’s impact at the United Nations in 2023 and again in 2024, and World Youth Alliance said Atchison’s adoption helped advance research and adoption in the U.S. and around the world. For a local district built on close school-community ties, the national award reflects something more immediate: an Atchison principal helped turn a classroom idea into a model other schools are now watching.