Whitman is a 2014 Kansas Cable Telecommunications Horizon Award Recipient for exemplary achievement within the first year of teaching, and a sixth-year educator who has a Bachelor of Arts in Secondary Education with an emphasis in English 6-12, and a Bachelor of Arts in Creative Writing, as well as an endorsement in English to Speakers of Other Languages from Wichita State University. He is also a current graduate student at WSU, seeking a Master of Arts of English. Furthermore, he is Co-Editor of the Voices of Kansas electronic journal for students published by the Kansas Association of Teachers of English.