Kentucky Teacher

By Matthew Tungate
matthew.tungate@education.ky.gov

Butler County Middle School Principal Jeff Jennings switches off a light in the library. According to school energy manager Jimmy Arnold, teachers and administrators are taking it upon themselves to help with energy and utility costs. Photo by Amy Wallot, Jan. 6, 2012

Lights are a little dimmer – and savings a lot greater – at Northern Elementary School (Scott County) thanks to 4th-grade teacher Elizabeth Cook’s class.

Last year 4th graders measured the amount of light in the school’s gym, cafeteria, office and library. They found the common areas had more light than necessary, Cook said. So they took that information to School Energy Manager Jim McClanahan, who had spoken to the students about the importance of conservation.

“I told Jim what the students had discovered,” Cook said. “He looked at the students’ figures and agreed that the areas were overlit. This year, the maintenance crew removed florescent bulbs from the common areas so that energy was not being wasted on unnecessary lighting.”

Cook’s class serves as Northern Elementary’s energy team, and the school has been more than successful. Energy-reduction efforts at the school placed it No. 1 among Kentucky schools that participated in the 2011 Energy Star National Building Competition: Battle of the Buildings. The contest is sponsored by the Environmental Protection Agency. Northern Elementary was fifth nationally in K-12 schools and 13th among the 245 buildings in the competition.

Cook said the school saved $8,000 during the Battle of the Buildings contest year.

Cook and many other teachers across the state have counted  on the Kentucky National Energy Education Development (NEED) and the School Energy Mangers Project (SEMP) to teach their students about energy and conservation. Continue Reading

Powell County High School senior Alicia Wasson works on mathematics problems in her bedroom as part of the Snowbound Program in Powell County. Photo by Amy Wallot, Jan. 12, 2012.

By Susan Riddell
susan.riddell@education.ky.gov

In December of 2010, Powell County students were in school for just five days thanks to inclement weather and poor road conditions.

By the end of the harsh winter, the district had called off school 27 times.

Further south, the Owsley County school district had missed 25 days.

Luckily, both districts were participating in a Snowbound Pilot program that allowed them to make up school days in a variety of ways, from sending home “snow packets” containing school work to providing online learning opportunities for students in all grade levels.

Powell County made up five days through the pilot and Owsley six.

“Our district really benefitted from this program last year,” said Sarah Wasson, director of pupil personnel for Powell County. “We were able to make up some days, but that wasn’t really the biggest benefit.

“The best part was, we were able to keep students learning,” she added. “After December, we had three days of school in January, but missed the entire next week. It was rough.” Continue Reading

The Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) will host its next TweetFEST on Wednesday, Feb. 29, inviting teachers and administrators to share resources they’re using to teach the new Kentucky Core Academic Standards (KCAS) during the 2011-12 school year.

KDE encourages teachers and administrators who use Twitter to tweet links to resources they are using to implement the KCAS in the classroom at any time on Wednesday and add the #teachkcas hashtag to each tweet. KDE also will retweet these resources on its Twitter timeline (@KyDeptofEd) on Feb. 29 to share the resources with KDE’s Twitter followers.

Not a Twitter user? You can sign up for a free account at www.twitter.com. School districts and individual schools that have a Twitter account also are welcome to tweet resources during the TweetFEST.

KDE uses the KDE Twitter feed to share information and converse with the education community and the residents of Kentucky. If you have a question about the TweetFEST, please contact Stephanie Siria via e-mail at stephanie.siria@education.ky.gov.

The Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education will hold a live webcast of its upcoming conference, “Architecture for Implementing the Common Core Standards: Strategies, Partnerships & Progress,” on February 27-29.

The live webcast will expand the reach of the conference by accommodating additional educators and policymakers from Kentucky and around the country.

The actual conference is being held at the Marriott Louisville Downtown Hotel. More than 380 participants from 22 states are expected to attend. 

Live webcast sessions will be available at mms://video1.education.ky.gov/encoder3a.

Among the sessions scheduled to be webcast on Monday are: A joint presentation by the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence and the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce on public awareness of the Common Core State Standards, from noon to 1 p.m.; and a Fireside Chat with Education Commissioner Terry Holliday, CPE President Bob King, Education Professional Standards Board Executive Director Phillip Rogers, Senate Education Chairman Ken Winters, R-Murray, and House Education Chairman Carl Rollins, D-Midway, from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Continue Reading

Kentucky adults considering returning to college have a free resource to help them make decisions about higher education.

Adults Returning to School is published by the Kentucky Higher Education Assistance Authority (KHEAA), the state agency that administers Kentucky student financial aid programs and provides college planning materials.

The book provides information about entrance exams, financial aid programs and Kentucky colleges and universities. It also includes information about adult education programs and General Educational Development (GED) testing centers, as well as other state programs that can help adult students.

Adults Returning to School is available at adult education centers. Free copies are available through KHEAA by e-mailing publications@kheaa.com.

Since 1989, schools across the United States have taken part in National School Breakfast Week (NSBW) celebrations in an effort to increase awareness of the availability of the School Breakfast Program (SBP) to all children.

School breakfast is not only good for children’s physical well-being, but also for their cognitive abilities. Research has shown that kids who eat breakfast score better on tests, have fewer health issues and even behave better.

This year, National School Breakfast Week is March 5-9. The Kentucky Department of Education’s Division of School and Community Nutrition (SCN) invites schools to join the National School Breakfast Week advocacy by celebrating and participating in a “spirit” contest for all sponsors of the SBP.

Schools may plan festivities, then share what they’ve done to celebrate National School Breakfast Week. Winners will be recognized by Kentucky Education Commissioner Terry Holliday at a ceremony in Frankfort, set for April 19.

The deadline to enter is March 22. Full contest rules and entry instructions can be found here.

The Junior Duck Stamp Design Contest is the culmination of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife’s Junior Duck Stamp educational program.

After studying waterfowl anatomy and habitat, students may demonstrate their knowledge by drawing, painting or sketching a picture of an eligible North American waterfowl species.

K-12 students attending public, private or home schools are eligible to enter. Students from around the U.S. submit drawings to their state, territory or district competitions. Winners from these competitions, called the “Best of Show,” are then submitted to the Federal Junior Duck Stamp Design Contest. One image from the 53 Best of Show entries will become the next Junior Duck Stamp. Entries for this year’s competition are due March 15.

Junior Duck Stamps are sold for $5 each by the U.S. Postal Service, Amplex Corporation and various National Wildlife Refuges. Proceeds from the sale of Junior Duck Stamps are returned to states for environmental and conservation education programs.

For rules and more information, go to www.fws.gov/juniorduck/ArtContest.htm.

The Kentucky Department for Public Health (DPH) and its partners have selected 41 high schools to receive grants to develop or improve the nutritional, physical activity or tobacco prevention policies at their schools.

The $500 grants are part of the Students Taking Charge program offered by Kentucky Action for Healthy Kids (KYAFHK).

Students Taking Charge provides students with the tools necessary to develop healthy policies and environments within their schools. Through the program, students learn to assess the current school environment, come up with an action plan to address needs and implement the plan to create long-lasting changes. Money for the grants comes from federal funding to support health promotion activities.

“If we are going to help our young people develop the skills and knowledge needed to lead long, healthy lives, we have to get them invested in the process,” said Steve Davis, acting commissioner for DPH. “That’s exactly what Students Taking Charge was designed to do. Through this program, students become a part of the process and their ideas about health and wellness are reflected in school policy and programming.” Continue Reading

Kentucky Crafted: The Market is going to be in Lexington March 3-4.

On these two days, participants will have the opportunity to participate in workshops led by teaching artists as well as other arts professionals.

Workshops are $5 with an online discounted admission to the market.

Follow this link to read more about the workshops: http://artscouncil.ky.gov/KentuckyArt/Market/Market_Workshops.pdf

For more information about the market and online registration, visit: http://artscouncil.ky.gov/KentuckyArt/2012Market.htm

Applications are being accepted for the 2012 Promising Practices in Character Education Program, sponsored by the Character Education Partnership (CEP).

CEP looks for a wide variety of practices that successfully promote character education among youth, and the group recognizes them annually as Promising Practices.

Access the application here. The deadline to apply is March 1.