Kentucky Teacher

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

Henderson County High School special education teacher Brandi Thomas visits with sophomore Josh Strong, his mother, Denise, and younger brother, Jordan, during the Home Visit Blitz. Photo by Amy Wallot, July 31, 2012

Denise Strong, a parent of two children in the Henderson County school district, had some concerns prior to the start of the school year.

Those concerns mainly involved her youngest son, Jordan.

“He’s switching to South Heights (Elementary School) this year, and he’s nervous,” she said. “Everything is new.”

But Strong’s concerns were heard by teachers who knocked on her door as part of the district’s second annual Home Visit Blitz. This effort “showed me just how much these teachers care about my kids,” Strong said. “It makes me feel better about them having a good school year.”

The parent outreach event involved district staff splitting into teams to knock on nearly 7,000 doors in a day’s time. Teachers introduced themselves to parents and students, and handed them bags filled with important school information. Read the full story

The Prichard Committee recognized the head of its parent leadership efforts, Bev Raimondo, for 20 years of work for the organization. She was recognized during the group’s June meeting at General Butler State Park in Carrollton.

Raimondo joined the Prichard staff in 1991 after a career at IBM.

After the passage of the Kentucky Education Reform Act in 1990, Raimondo created and managed a network of professional staff to organize more than 60 Community Committees for Education in more than 90 Kentucky school districts to support education reform. She created and has led the Commonwealth Institute for Parent Leadership since it began in 1997. More than 1,500 Kentucky parents have become CIPL fellows.

In 2002, Raimondo also began directing the Center for Parent Leadership, a consulting unit of the Prichard Committee that has helped organizations across the nation develop parent leadership training programs. She is a native of Lexington and graduate of the University of Kentucky.

The Prichard Committee presented its highest recognition, its Award of Excellence, to Tim Hanner of the Kenton County school district.

Hanner, 50, retired from the Kenton County schools in June due to medical concerns.

He began serving as superintendent in 2006 and was named the Kentucky Association of School Administrators’ Superintendent of the Year in 2010. Read the full story

Veteran educator and community leader Hilma Prather of Somerset recently became the new chair of the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence.
Prather, a retired principal from the Somerset Independent school district, is a member of the Kentucky Authority for Educational Television, KET’s governing board, and has been a member of the Kentucky Board of Education, the advisory board of Somerset Community and Technical College, and the Council on Postsecondary Education.
A member of the Prichard Committee since 2006, Prather succeeds Louisville businessman Sam Corbett, who stepped down as chair in May. Prather had served as the Prichard Committee vice-chair.

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