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Instructors
Kahla Wheeler-Rowan, Founder of PrairieWise Herbal School
Greetings, this is Kahla Wheeler-Rowan and I’m the founder and director of PrairieWise Herbal School. My herbal life began with my father, Michael Beach, and his obsession with Euell Gibbons. Our family hiked, explored and harvested wild foods for as long as I can remember, and I preferred herbal remedies as my children were growing up versus doctors and pharmacies. After a round with cancer, I decided to leave my corporate career in telecommunications and began a life in herbalism surrounded by plants and plant people. That was over 30 years ago.
I began PrairieWise Herbal School as a way to influence people into experiencing more of a relationship with plants. Eating vegetables is great, drinking tea is marvelous, growing plants gets you closer, but centering our lives around plants helps us remember our origins and honors our ancestors. I have been deeply honored to have studied with many herbalists through the years and seek to continue my studies throughout my life.
My personal work centers around a process that I call Plant Chromatics. This is channeled information from the Akashic record linking personal and collective energy fields between humans and plants moving us all toward evolutionary change. Plant Chromatics is offered yearly as a stand alone module.
There’s been some discussion of my retirement but I don’t see that door as yet. As long as we are talking plants and plant medicine, I’ll be there!
Benjamin Steineger
Hello! I’m Benjamin. I am an herbalist, farmer, creator, and a recent graduate of PrairieWise Herbal School. I have a passion for plant lore and mythos, growing, wildcrafting, and folk herbalism. My path to herbalism began in 2019 when my family and I planted our first 1,000 plants at our farm in Kansas City, Kansas - Lavender Hill Farm. Today our farm is home to around 1,500 lavender plants of many different varieties, as well as 400+ assorted herbs.
Those early days at the farm with my hands in the soil completely redirected my life. I found such an indescribable peace working with the plants that I simply needed more. I explored the herbal world through books, personal experience, and online workshops before enrolling at PWHS in 2023. As a new teacher at PWHS, I look forward to joining your walk down the plant path!
JohnKenny Rodricks
Hey, I'm JohnKenny and I began my journey with herbal medicine over 20 years ago, while ill as a student at Rockhurst University ('02), and after seeing the effectiveness of plant-based medicine, I spent the next two decades self-teaching, learning, experimenting (my favorite!) and growing.
In 2021, I enrolled in Prairie Wise Herbal School and studied under renowned herbalist Kahla Rowan. After graduating in 2023, I started Starboard Sky Botanicals, which produces small batch herbal products for general sale. Additionally, Starboard Sky’s client-centered clinical practice provides not only consultation and assistance to my clients, but also provides customized herbal protocols and single- and blended-formula teas, and tinctures. I began teaching Wellness (formerly Clinical) Immersion at Prairie Wise Herbal School in 2025.
When I am not working with herbal clients, you can find me in my moderately successful backyard garden, spending time with my husband, pets, family and friends, traveling, or burying my nose in whatever book is within arms reach.
Our History
Highlights of Our Story
PrairieWise Herbal School began in 1995 as WiseWoman Ways founded by Kahla Wheeler in Kansas City, Missouri. For the past 30 years, Kahla has guided students on a plant journey that has changed peoples lives and career directions. Kahla was influenced by a variety of herbal teachers including her father, Michael Beach, who was a graduate of The Dominion School of Herbalism in Vancouver, BC, Canada. Mike was a naturalist and enjoyed geology and all forms of nature and passed these interests on to Kahla. She was also influenced by Susun Weed, Michael Moore, Bill Mitchell, Matthew Wood, Rosemary Gladstar, Steven Foster and all the herbalists that have crossed her way.
In 2003, the program grew to a 3-year beginning program with an emphasis on clinical studies including anatomy and physiology, plant chemistry, and a foundation for beginning clinical work. The program was originally designed to teach a year’s worth of herbalism in a 3-year format so that students could be at home, work and still have a somewhat normal family life by not being in class every weekend. This has proven to be a good plan because students have a longer period to research and integrate the information both in class and independently.
From 2008 through 2017, the school was located at 80 Acres in Leavenworth County, Kansas. This location afforded great opportunities for the school by providing an outdoor classroom with wild plants and a few rare specimens. Here we harvested the largest poke root that we’d ever seen and learned about the aquatic plants. We also hosted festivals and large weekend gatherings with guest speakers including Trilby Sedlacek, Jamie Jackson, Susun Weed, Matthew Wood, Lisa Ganora and many others from near and far.
We went into partnership with The Laya Center in Kansas City in 2018 and remained with the center until Spring of 2025 when the center closed. Our time at The Laya Center was filled with fabulous experiences, revelations on relationships, and partnering to bring health and healing to our communities during some of the most trying of times. We are forever grateful to Joe and Toyia Mays for their acceptance, guidance and generosity.
Now we embark upon a new journey with new instructors, new format, new offerings and new locations. We are so excited to see how 2026 unfolds. Please consider joining us on this path to plant wisdom and human interaction.