Kentucky Teacher

Below is a recap of new superintendents hired for the 2011-12 school year. With the exception of Tom Shelton in Fayette County, who officially starts his new job in September, and Donna Hargens in Jefferson County, who begins her new job Aug. 1, all of these individuals began their new duties on July 1.
Note: Dennis Davis has been named interim superintendent in Mercer County for the 2011-12 school year.

Two state championship winners have won International Awards for the ThinkQuest 2011 Competition. They will travel to San Francisco in October and attend ThinkQuest Live.

Charles Russell Elementary School (Ashland Independent) won first place with an obesity weight awareness project. Cynde Elkins is the team’s coach.

A team from Woodford County High School won second place for non-profit organization browser. Becky Keith is the team’s coach.

A State Divided: Exploring the Civil War Through Images includes 15 images related to the Civil War in Kentucky, ranging from medals and photographs to portraits and weapons. This sampler was produced as a partnership of the Kentucky Historical Society and KET. The goal is to provide images of artworks, artifacts, photographs and source documents that can be used to teach social studies and arts and humanities.

This also will go along nicely with the second mission in Mission US, which will be released in January 2012. In Flight to Freedom, students will play the role of a runaway slave, as they explore events leading up to the Civil War. This game is partly set in Kentucky.

Education Commissioner Terry Holliday, and William Hacker, commissioner of the Kentucky Department for Public Health, recently sent a letter to all Kentucky superintendents encouraging the passage and implementation of a 100 percent tobacco-free school policy. This letter exemplifies the partnership between health and education to help improve the health status of students, their families, school staff and community members.
For more information, contact Irene Centers with the Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Program; Victoria Greenwell with the Kentucky Department for Public Health’s Coordinated School Health; or Jamie Sparks with Kentucky Department of Education’s Coordinated School Health.

Letter to Kentucky superintendents

The University of Kentucky is offering an online physics courses for teachers. This is for elementary and middle school teachers who want to learn more about physical science, either for course credit or professional development. Course topics include light; electricity and magnetism; temperature and heat; and force motion and energy.
For more information, contact Joseph P. Straley at (859) 257-3197.

Georgetown College’s new blended Advanced Teacher Leader Rank One cohort program will offer courses in a mostly online format, but students will still receive individualized faculty attention and strong peer support.

The emphasis of this program is to extend teacher leadership to the school level. Students who enroll in the fall Advanced Teacher Leader Rank One program also will earn an additional endorsement either in English as a Second Language, Gifted and Talented or Instructional Technology; certification in Moderate/Severe Disabilities; or special recognition by completing the English as a Second Language or Autism Spectrum Disorders cognate.

For more information, call the Graduate Education Office at (502) 863-8176. Those interested in enrolling for the fall must submit applications by July 22.

The Kentucky Center for Mathematics (KCM) is offering an opportunity for elementary schools to partner in its successful intervention program. Last year, KCM applied for an Investing in Innovation (i3) grant that, while not funded, was selected as a highly-rated unfunded project. As a result of the positive feedback received, the KCM is reapplying for an i3 grant this year.

If funded, the grant would provide monies to train and support a new cohort of mathematics intervention teacher leaders. Click here to access documents pertaining to this year’s proposal. Those interested can find a document describing the positive impact the intervention program has had to date. See the draft RFA for more information.

Guidelines to apply are on the KCM website. Should the KCM’s i3 proposal be funded, a final RFA will be issued at a later date (spring 2012), and schools will be selected through a competitive application process.

Letters may be addressed and sent to Kirsten Fleming at the Kentucky Center for Mathematics, Northern Kentucky University, 305 Founders Hall, Highland Heights, KY 41076 or may be submitted by e-mail to kcm@nku.edu Letters need to be received by July 11 in order to include them  in the i3 grant application.

The National Education Association has named Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear this year’s recipient of the America’s Greatest Education Governor Award. The annual award recognizes and honors governors who have made major, state-level education strides that improve public schools.

“Gov. Beshear has shown unwavering support for Kentucky’s students and educators,” said Dennis Van Roekel, president of NEA. “He championed quality preschool programs – one of the best investments our country can make – as well as raising the dropout age in Kentucky to 18. And in the midst of budget cuts, he fought to preserve resources for K-12 education and the Commonwealth’s students and classrooms. He has repeatedly stood strong for Kentucky’s students and schools.”

Continue Reading

The Kentucky Girls STEM Collaborative will host a Waterbotics Camp for rising freshman and sophomore girls July 25-29. Girls will discover how robotics are changing the world as they work together to design, construct, program and operate an underwater vessel. The registration deadline has been extended to July 15. For more information, contact Esther Edwards at (859) 257-3780.