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A fishy start to a new sport

Posted on 16 May 2013. Tags: Corbin Independent, Nelson County, Woodford County

By Amy Wallot
amy.wallot@education.ky.gov

It was a chilly morning in April as boats gathered around the dock at KenLake Marina for the first Kentucky High School Athletics Association bass fishing championship. The KHSAA added the co-ed sport-activity in February of 2012, making this school year its first. Forty-two teams from high schools around the state competed in the championship. For complete results, click here.

I have shot bass fishing tournaments in Alabama before and was looking forward to this. Sometimes things go just as you hoped and, well, sometimes they don’t. I wasn’t able to get on a boat and photograph the anglers actually fishing or stick around for the weigh-in, which happened later in the afternoon. Despite not seeing much of the action, I’m glad I went. Any day working outside is better than one inside. I learned what I would do differently next time, which will hopefully be soon.

Bass fishing teams make their way around the KenLake Marina for the state bass fishing championship.
Photo by Amy Wallot, April 26, 2013

Thomas Nelson High School (Nelson County) captain Junior Dugan and freshmen Mason McMahan and Logan Crady head out on Kentucky Lake.
Photo by Amy Wallot, April 26, 2013

The Woodford County High School team listens to instructions.
Photo by Amy Wallot, April 26, 2013

Corbin High School (Corbin Independent) captain Chase Adams, sophomore Matt Brown and junior Dylan Adams wave to officials on the dock as they are given the signal to head out.
Photo by Amy Wallot, April 26, 2013

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Students join First Lady Jane Beshear for Earth Day

Posted on 02 May 2013. Tags: Frankfort Independent, Green Ribbon Schools, Scott County

By Amy Wallot
amy.wallot@education.ky.gov

Students from Northern Elementary School (Scott County) and Frankfort High School (Frankfort Independent) spent Earth Day at the Capitol browsing educational booths, touring the Capitol Education Center and celebrating honored guests with First Lady Jane Beshear.

Members of Northern Elementary School’s energy team, under the direction of 4^th-grade teacher Elizabeth Cook, were recognized at the event as a Kentucky Green Ribbon school. They were surprised to learn at the celebration the school had been named a National Green Ribbon winner. (Cane Run Elementary (Jefferson County) and Locust Trace AgriScience Farm (Fayette Co.) also were recently named National Green Ribbon winners. Read the press release here.)

Frankfort High School social studies teacher Shane Hecker brought his current events class to the event. “I’m constantly trying to bring real-life scenarios to the students that show that our planet has a very real impact on the way we live and the decisions we make on a day to day basis. However, I also want to show that those decisions also have a very real impact on the way our planet functions. The Earth Day celebration at the Capitol was a great way to tie this concept and the study of local current events together for my class,” he said.

Northern Elementary School (Scott County) 4th-grade student Abby Flynn gets a hug from First Lady Jane Beshear after her school is named a National Green Ribbon School.
Photo by Amy Wallot, April 22 , 2013

Lacy Murphy applauds as her school, Northern Elementary School (Scott County) is named a Nation Green Ribbon School during the Earth Day celebration at the Capitol.
Photo by Amy Wallot, April 22 , 2013

Ollie the Otter, with Kentucky Department for Environmental Protection, poses for a photo with Frankfort High School (Frankfort Independent) sophomores Leighann Neal and Maggie Smith. They were there as part of Shane Hecker’s current events class.
Photo by Amy Wallot, April 22 , 2013

Mira Poposki and Kalyn Tackett, 4th-grade students at Northern Elementary (Scott County), visit with Pam Proctor at the Kentucky National Energy Education Development (NEED) during the Earth Day celebration at the Capitol.
Photo by Amy Wallot, April 22 , 2013

Northern Elementary School (Scott County) 4th-grade student Jacob Spring pets Ann Evans’ dog, Annie Roux. Evans, executive director of the Governor’s Mansion, told him that Annie Roux is best friends with Gov. Steve Beshear’s dog, Tory. Photo by Amy Wallot, April 22 , 2013

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STLP 2013

Posted on 18 April 2013. Tags: STLP

By Amy Wallot
amy.wallot@education.ky.gov

The Student Technology Leadership Program (STLP) held their 9^th annual state championship in March at Rupp Arena. This is an event I have photographed the past handful of years. The displays are impressive, both for the creativity of the displays themselves and for the creativity of the student projects. This year I was really impressed with the high school students who were creating their own apps. With so many activities, there is something to interest everyone, even if technology isn’t your subject area. Below are some scenes from this year’s event.

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Kentucky Equine Youth Festival

Posted on 04 April 2013. Tags: Kentucky Equine Youth Festival, Kentucky Horse Park

By Amy Wallot
amy.wallot@education.ky.gov

More than 2,400 students from 49 counties made their way to the 2013 Kentucky Equine Youth Festival at the Kentucky Horse Park last month. In the large arena they watched demonstrations of equestrian sports including jumping, vaulting and dressage. Smaller sessions included workshops on vaulting, horse dentistry and the biomechanics of jockeys and racehorses

This is the second time for the festival. The first was held in 2010 in conjunction with the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games.

Remi Bellocq, executive director of equine programming at Bluegrass Community and Technical College, gives Stanton Elementary School (Powell County) kindergarten student Kelsey Howell some riding tips during the Kentucky Equine Youth Festival at the Kentucky Horse Park.
Photo by Amy Wallot, March 27, 2013

East Hardin Middle School (Hardin County) 6th-grade student Katie Estes, second from right, tells Elissa Baertschi, left, executive director of the equine scholars program at Georgetown College, about her plans to some day open a therapeutic center for horses.
Photo by Amy Wallot, March 27, 2013

Students filled the bleachers to watch a demonstration about vaulting.
Photo by Amy Wallot, March 27, 2013

Toliver Elementary School (Danville Independent) students in Ron Ballard’s 2nd-grade class play a matching game at a booth for the Meadow Lake Equestrian Center.
Photo by Amy Wallot, March 27, 2013

Hall of Fame jockey Chris McCarron signs his autograph for Owen County Middle School 5th-grade student Makayla Riggs.
Photo by Amy Wallot, March 27, 2013

Cumberland County Elementary School 4th-grade student Halee Bunch tried to ride like a jockey at a display by the North American Racing Academy. The academy was giving presentations about the biometrics of the horse and jockey.
Photo by Amy Wallot, March 27, 2013

Students at the Kentucky Equine Youth Festival watch a vaulting demonstration at the Kentucky Horse Park.
Photo by Amy Wallot, March 27, 2013

Breckenridge County Middle School 6th-grade student Dalton Taylor watches a demonstration on a variety of horse carts.
Photo by Amy Wallot, March 27, 2013

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KHSAA Boys’ Sweet Sixteen 2013

Posted on 21 March 2013. Tags: Christian County, Covington Independent, Graves County, KHSAA Boys Sweet Sixteen, Madison County

By Amy Wallot
amy.wallot@education.ky.gov

The KHSAA Boys Sweet Sixteen is one of my favorite annual events and I know I’m not alone. It’s as high of an energy atmosphere as you can get. From a photographer’s standpoint, it’s a golden opportunity filled with great action, and tons of emotion. It’s also a good chance to see a variety of schools all in one place. The basketball is great, but I prefer to focus on the students, teachers and bands that come to support their classmates.

This year I photographed two games during the quarterfinal rounds at Rupp Arena in Lexington; Madison Central High School against Holmes High School (Covington Independent) and Graves County High School against Hopkinsville High School (Christian County).

Beth Nowlin, a secretary at Madison Central High School, and her husband Phillip Nowlin cheer on the Braves against Holmes High School during the KHSAA Boys Sweet 16 quarterfinals at Rupp Arena.
Photo by Amy Wallot, March 8, 2013

Madison Central High School senior Dominique Hawkins celebrates a dunk against Holmes High School (Covington Independent) during Madison Central’s 65-61 win in overtime.
Photo by Amy Wallot, March 8, 2013

Holmes High School (Covington Independent) junior Chris Bishop and senior Trevor Rhodes perform with the band under the direction of Jared Murray.
Photo by Amy Wallot, March 8, 2013

Hopkinsville High School’s (Christian County) Jordan Majors fouls Graves County High School’s Zach Kimbler.
Photo by Amy Wallot, March 8, 2013

Hopkinsville High School (Christian County) senior Morgan Eli reacts to game play against Central High School.
Photo by Amy Wallot, March 8, 2013

Hopkinsville High School (Christian County) band performs under the direction of John Lovell, left.
Photo by Amy Wallot, March 8, 2013

A Graves County High School player reacts to losing to Hopkinsville High School (Christian County) 50-34.
Photo by Amy Wallot, March 8, 2013

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Dr. Seuss in the classroom

Posted on 07 March 2013. Tags: Berea Independent, Dr. Seuss, reading

By Amy Wallot
amy.wallot@education.ky.gov

The March 2 birthday of author Dr. Seuss gave teachers across the nation an opportunity to include a little craziness into their classrooms. With his birthday landing on a Saturday this year, activities took place last week, but also are planned for this week.

At Berea Community Elementary School (Berea Independent), the halls were lined with billboards of students work related to Dr. Seuss. On the day I visited, students in Leigh Wilson’s kindergarten class were participating in Dr. Seuss related activities in small groups. Third-grade students in Nicole Isaacs’ class were getting their hands messy with green oobleck from the book Bartholomew and the Oobleck.

Dr. Seuss is fun for all ages and his stories can be incorporated into most subjects. Planning a lesson around one of his stories gives teachers an easy opportunity to add a creative lesson to the day and this photographer a fun assignment to shoot.

Brinkley Osborne solves mathematics problems with white and red manipulatives during Leigh Wilson’s kindergarten class at Berea Community Elementary School (Berea Independent).
Photo by Amy Wallot, Feb. 28, 2013

Kindergarten student Alexis Bustomante proudly wears her paper hat similar to the famous one worn in The Cat in the Hat.
Photo by Amy Wallot, Feb. 28, 2013

Summer Damrell points out a wacky item in Wacky Wednesday by Dr. Seuss to her kindergarten teacher Leigh Wilson.
Photo by Amy Wallot, Feb. 28, 2013

Corey Judd listens to his kindergarten teacher Leigh Wilson read Wacky Wednesday by Dr. Seuss.
Photo by Amy Wallot, Feb. 28, 2013

Third-grade teacher Nicole Isaacs reads Bartholomew and the Oobleck by Dr. Seuss to her class.
Photo by Amy Wallot, Feb. 28, 2013

Third-grade students Clayton Martinez and Joseph Workman play with oobleck during Nicole Isaacs’ class. After, they completed a worksheet about their observations of the substance. Photo by Amy Wallot, Feb. 28, 2013

Third-grade students Clayton Martinez and Joseph Workman play with oobleck during Nicole Isaacs’ class. After playing, they completed a worksheet about their observations of the substance.
Photo by Amy Wallot, Feb. 28, 2013

As 3rd-grade teacher Nicole Isaacs hands out oobleck to her class, she reminds them to not eat the oobleck.
Photo by Amy Wallot, Feb. 28, 2013

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Capitol Education Center

Posted on 21 February 2013. Tags: Capitol Education Center, First Lady Jane Beshear

By Amy Wallot

amy.wallot@education.ky.gov

Students from Rosa Parks Elementary School (Fayette County) and Richardsville Elementary School (Warren County) were on hand for the Capitol Education Center’s grand opening, hosted by First Lady Jane Beshear. The space, a former heating and cooling facility at the Capitol, will promote energy efficiency and sustainability. And it can be used a place for classes to eat lunch while visiting the Capitol and the Governor’s Mansion.

I look forward to visiting the center again when it is full of students excited to be in the capital city, and seeing the rooftop garden in full bloom.

Check out the Kentucky Teacher news item about the center here.

Elijah Whittle and Christian Currans, both 5th-grade students at Richardsville Elementary School (Warren County), record the speakers at the Capitol Education Center open house in Frankfort, Ky.
Photo by Amy Wallot, Feb. 8, 2013

Gov. Steve Beshear applauds First LAdy Jane Beshear who hosted the Capitol Education Center open house in Frankfort, Ky.
Photo by Amy Wallot, Feb. 8, 2013

Gov. Steve Beshear and First Lady Jane Beshear cut the ribbon to the Capitol Education Center with students from Rosa Parks Elementary School (Fayette County) and Richardsville Elementary School (Warren County).
Photo by Amy Wallot, Feb. 8, 2013

Rosa Parks Elementary School (Fayette County) 4th-grade students Colton Thomas and Hannah Hammond sample appetizers made with Kentucky Proud products during the open house. Both students are members of the Energy Team at their school.
Photo by Amy Wallot, Feb. 8, 2013

Michelle Shane, environmental education specialist with the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet, checks out the displays at the Capitol Education Center open house in Frankfort, Ky.
Photo by Amy Wallot, Feb. 8, 2013

Richardsville Elementary School (Warren County) 5th-grade student Christian Currans talks with Brad Mitchell, executive chef of the Governor’s Mansion, about the Kentucky Proud items that were served during the Capitol Education Center open house in Frankfort, Ky.
Photo by Amy Wallot, Feb. 8, 2013

Rosa Parks Elementary School (Fayette County) 4th-grade students Colton Thomas and Hannah Hammond sample appetizers made with Kentucky Proud products during the Capitol Education Center open house in Frankfort, Ky.
Photo by Amy Wallot, Feb. 8, 2013

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Music and movement

Posted on 07 February 2013. Tags: Bardstown Independent, music, primary

By Amy Wallot
amy.wallot@education.ky.gov

Music and movement are a natural combination. Bardstown Independent music teacher Lederrick Wesley pairs them seamlessly in his class. I danced my way into his 1^st-grade class at Bardstown Primary School to check it out. The students started the class moving to Justin Bieber’s Beauty and a Beat, where one student would determine the movement and the others would follow.

After the warm-up, the students dove into a lesson on classical music appreciation. First, they looked at pictures of winter scenes and talked about winter activities. Next, Wesley played Antonio Vivaldi’s Winter concerto as the students closed their eyes and thought about winter. The students then worked in small groups to create a winter dance to the piece, incorporating four non-locomotor and four locomotor movements.

Wesley, a Berea College and Eastern Kentucky University graduate, likes to expose his students to all music types.

“I like to incorporate classical music into 2^nd and 1^st grades,” he said.

Students at the school have music class for 45 minutes each week.

Holden Bays (center) leads the dance floor during Lederrick Wesley’s music class at Bardstown Primary School (Bardstown Ind.).
Photo by Amy Wallot, Jan. 23, 2013

Carson Hicks closes his eyes and imagines winter while listening to Vivaldi’s concerto Winter at Bardstown Primary School (Bardstown Independent).
Photo by Amy Wallot, Jan. 23, 2013

Lederrick Wesley leads 1st-grade students to put their hands on their heads during his music class.
Photo by Amy Wallot, Jan. 23, 2013

Ary’onna Tonge pretends to make snow angels on the floor as part of her performance to Winter.
Photo by Amy Wallot, Jan. 23, 2013

Lederrick Wesley gives students advice on their classroom performance after their practice run during his class.
Photo by Amy Wallot, Jan. 23, 2013

Meredith Olliges and Kamari Downs watch their classmates’ performance.
Photo by Amy Wallot, Jan. 23, 2013

Donovon Stone leaps through the air as part of his team’s performance to Winter.
Photo by Amy Wallot, Jan. 23, 2013

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Young students get a sneak peek at South Hancock Elementary

Posted on 17 January 2013. Tags: Hancock County, kindergarten

By Amy Wallot
amy.wallot@education.ky.gov

A stop by South Hancock Elementary School (Hancock County) yielded an early education surprise. The school, including principal Barbara Spindel and Family Resource and Youth Services Center coordinator Kim Mitchell, started a new program for preschool-aged children called Little Stars.

“It’s a transition into school life for those students who don’t have access to preschool or head start,” Spindel said. Adding the program is something they have been talking about for years and put into action this year.

A small group of students meets four times, for an hour each time, during the school year before they enter kindergarten. Spindel works with the students on activities that include learning and classroom skills, like counting and teamwork. Mitchell spends part of that time talking with the parents about kindergarten readiness skills.

“The concept eliminates first day tears,” Spindel said. “It’s already their school.”

Eli Swihart uses play-doh to make a snowman during the Little Stars program at South Hancock Elementary School (Hancock County).
Photo by Amy Wallot, Jan. 4, 2013

Memphis Ball waits for instruction on the days activities.
Photo by Amy Wallot, Jan. 4, 2013

South Hancock Elementary School (Hancock County) principal Barbara Spindel helps Eli Swihart, 4, count cotton balls during the Little Stars.
Photo by Amy Wallot, Jan. 4, 2013

Claire Swihart uses a glue stick with cotton balls to make a snowman during the Little Stars program.
Photo by Amy Wallot, Jan. 4, 2013

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Kentucky Teacher has Kentucky covered Part III

Posted on 03 January 2013. Tags: Photo Blog, school districts, schools

By Amy Wallot
amy.wallot@education.ky.gov

In the final installment of one photo from every school district, I share Nelson County through Woodford County. (Please click here for the first installment and here for the second.) The photo from Newport Independent is one of my favorites and hangs in my office. And I’ll never forget hanging out with Nurse Nellie in Trimble County.

I’ve had a wonderful time visiting schools across the state. Stay tuned in 2013 for more candid moments in Kentucky education.