During that time, he was a highly decorated educator, teaching social studies and an elective course titled Museum Connections at Monticello Trails Middle School, which was centered around a classroom museum of some 50,000 real-life historical artifacts.

He also taught an Archaeology and Artifacts course to Mill Valley High School students.

His courses earned him state and national plaudits, including the Scholastic Kansas Teacher of the Year in 2004. He was also named a nominee for National Life Group’s Lifechanger of the Year award in 2018.

That same year, he and his classroom museum were featured on an NBC News report.

During that time, both lawsuits allege, Hileman displayed a pattern of “red flags,” including targeting vulnerable students, earning their trust through personal attention and emotional manipulation, isolating them from peers and adults and blurring professional boundaries through inappropriate personal communication.

The district knew of or had reason to know his patterns of grooming students, the lawsuits say.