Retired teacher leaves comfort of Wichita to teach around the world

Lakshmi Kambampati never stopped.

She may have retired as a math teacher from Wichita Public Schools after 20 years in 2011 but her passion for teaching did not end.

For a time, she taught math at Carpenter Place (formerly Maude Carpenter Children’s Home), and worked as an adjunct professor at Butler Community College and Friends University.

But she wanted to do more. She wanted to teach students in underprivileged areas of the world.

So, in her mid 60s, Kambampati began exploring Peace Corps and Fulbright scholarship websites.

She recently returned from Liberia where she did a 10-month stint with the Peace Corps teaching math to middle school teachers.

Next month, at age 66, she will leave again — this time to spend 10 months in India on a Fulbright scholarship.

“I left my nice comfortable job in the Wichita public schools and opted to go out and teach students because I wanted to see the other side of the experience,” she said recently from her home in Bel Aire. “It was tough but awesome.”

She said she has met students who have never had success in their lives.

First, there were the students at Carpenter Place.

“Those kids have so much baggage, they can’t concentrate in class,” she said.

“So, when they come to my classroom to do math, do you think they are going to do math? They hated it. Their mind was not there.”

Kambampati said she started by having her students do some knitting and crocheting.

“I said if you can do this, you can do some math,” Kampambati said she told one student, who had crocheted a baby blanket. “Guess what? She learned something in her lifetime for the first time.”

Then, there were the students in Liberia.

“I have this desire to teach,” she said. “Students who are good students will learn everywhere. I wanted to go to a country and help the needy.”

Liberia, known for its 14 years of civil war and Ebola outbreak, was her choice.

“One generation is gone because all the schools were closed,” she said. “… And they are in the process of rebuilding. They needed teachers, people with math and science background.

“My assignment was to teach middle school teachers mathematics. It was a pilot program for the whole country.”

But she did more. She took her students on their first field trip and showed them the ocean, was a bridesmaid in a wedding, and was honored with ceremonial dresses.

She taught them about recycling, why they shouldn’t eat bush animals and the dangers of mosquitoes.

One of her lesson plans — how to make a graph drawing of a mosquito to teach about the dangers of malaria — has now been picked up by the national Peace Corps office for volunteers to replicate in other countries, she said.

“Please remember me in more knowledge and understanding,” one student wrote to thank Kambampati at the end of her stay.

“You are an inspirational trainer, I shall forever miss your loving care and kindness. Your presence in Liberia brought many changes in life.”

Teaching, she says, is really about living.

“They learn so many things the books don’t teach, but this is how we connect and the impact we make,” she said. “This is my passion.

“We don’t get paid much, but I love teaching and I like the light when the students learn.”

And so, Kambampati is preparing to leave at least once more. This time to her birth nation on a Fulbright scholarship.

When she returns, she and her husband, Mohan, will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. He is the executive director of the Wichita Indochinese Center.

And then, will she be ready to retire?

“We will see, I don’t know,” Kambampati said. “It all depends on the stamina and what happens next.

“I feel fantastic.”

This story was originally published July 22, 2017 at 2:29 PM with the headline "Retired teacher leaves comfort of Wichita to teach around the world."