Not in Kansas Anymore: a Teaching Career That Spanned the Globe

The pungent odor of fermenting cabbage from a Korean neighbor's kimchi pot, an Okinawan gecko scurrying up the quonset hut wall, a call to prayer from a Turkish minaret, or Roman ruins along her route to school each reminded Anita Burdette-Dragoo of one fact: she wasn't in Kansas anymore.

Not in Kansas Anymore relates the endearing story of Anita Burdette-Dragoo, a Kansas farm girl who spent 17 years teaching on U. S. military bases around the world. With a fair amount of wit and a great deal of wisdom, Burdette-Dragoo shares her encounters with non-American neighbors and her civilian impressions of military communities overseas. In addition, she reveals the contrast between her own educational experience in rural Kansas with that of some four million students and their teachers who have attended the Department of Defense Overseas Dependents Schools since the end of World War II.

Burdette-Dragoo also provides a humorous look at the culture shock she experienced while living in the American community. Learning a vocabulary filled with acronyms, preparing to evacuate students in the event of an attack, and seeing soldiers in full battle gear run past her classroom window while loudspeakers blared was all in a day's work!

Not in Kansas Anymore is a wonderfully whimsical glimpse into a little-known aspect of overseas military living as well as a testament to the dedication and bravery of the American teacher.