Kentucky Teacher

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

Students from Menifee County Elementary School visit the Wildcat Exchange bank at the high school. Elementary students who wish to use the bank (most use it for deposits) are brought to the high school once a week. Middle school students visit the bank during their lunch periods. Photo by Amy Wallot, Oct. 3, 2011

Students graduating Kentucky public schools are expected to have learned complicated mathematical equations, been exposed to the great world literature and understand the underlying principles of how society functions.

They are not, however, required to know how to balance a checkbook, apply for a loan or create a personal budget.

That’s not to say students aren’t exposed to those and other financial literacy concepts, according to Michael Hackworth, business and marketing consultant at the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE), and Leslie Slaughter, family and consumer sciences consultant at KDE

“But there’s no mandated curriculum that is across the board in every high school or middle school,” Slaughter said. “The decision is left to the school to determine which courses are offered within the program.” Read the full story

The Kentucky Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy^® recently honored three teachers who have done an exceptional job of teaching financial literacy concepts to their students.

The 2011 winners of the Jump$tart Coalition Financial Literacy Teacher of the Year awards are Kristy Burberry, a business and marketing teacher at Menifee County High School in Frenchburg; Kelly Scheuher, a family and consumer sciences teacher at Hopkinsville High School in Hopkinsville; and Amanda Comstock, a business and marketing teacher at Bullitt East High School in Mt. Washington. Read the full story

Sixth-grade student Brady Crowe uses Moodle to work on an assignment during Mike Hamilton’s class at Clark Middle School (Clark County). Students were learning to create Excel spreadsheets, and Hamilton was incorporating other class material by using planets and presidents as topics. Photo by Amy Wallot; March 2011

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

Mike Hamilton, a computer technology teacher at Clark Middle School (Clark County), and Debi Carnefix-Needler, an English teacher at North Bullitt High School (Bullitt County), are using Moodle (Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment) with great success in their classrooms.

Moodle is a course management system, online for almost a decade, but its classroom success has gained momentum the last few years. Read the full story

From the Prichard Committee

Training from the Prichard Committee’s Commonwealth Institute for Parent Leadership (CIPL) has turned mechanical engineer Michael Ekbundit into a champion for real-world science in the Bullitt County school district.

Ekbundit had been an occasional guest speaker before going through the institute. This year, however, he is focusing his work and looking to see if his work with 4th-graders will translate into improved test scores. Read the full story

Contest inspires focus on environmental themes through art
The Kentucky Department for Environmental Protection (DEP) recently honored the winning 2010 Green Art Contest high school artists. Awards were presented to six Kentucky high school juniors and seniors who created art using the contest themes of natural resources and environmental management. Students were encouraged to submit painting/print work, sculpture, pottery and photographs.
“The purpose of the contest was to encourage high school students to think about the environment and inspire them to include the environment in their artwork,” said DEP Commissioner Bruce Scott, who presented the awards to students. Read the full story

School psychologist Misty Lay demonstrates relaxation therapy with fifth-grade students Cameron Shockley and Quinton Brito at Lebanon Junction Elementary School (Bullitt County) Sept. 16, 2010. Photo by Amy Wallot

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

Bullitt County school psychologist Misty Lay began working with a defiant 2nd grader who spent most of his time in the principal’s office and not learning. But over the next three years, Lay worked with him on both his behavior and his academic needs to overcome a learning disability.

Now, the boy is on the honor roll and is a leader in the school’s peer mentoring program. He also no longer requires any additional services to be successful at school. Read the full story

Teachers use archaeology to bring other subjects to life

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

Terry and Sarah Hodges listen to tour guide Frank Webster, left, talk about the standalone kitchen at Riverside, the Farnsley-Moremen Landing, during the Project Archaeology workshop in Louisville June 22, 2010. Terry Hodges is a kindergarten assistant at Tully Elementary School (Jefferson County), and Sarah Hodges is a 3rd-grade teacher at Greenwood Elementary School (Jefferson County). Photo by Amy Wallot

Students in schools across Kentucky are using buttons to learn about sorting, color, shapes and classification, all while drawing inferences about the objects’ owner. Teachers are using original source documents to produce informed citizens, voters and leaders.

All are happening because of archaeology, a word not even found in the Program of Studies, according to A. Gwynn Henderson, archaeologist and education coordinator with the Kentucky Archaeological Survey (KAS), jointly administered by the Kentucky Heritage Council and the University of Kentucky Department of Anthropology. Read the full story