Features

Coming from a family of Kentucky educators, Jason Glass had a passion for learning, community and democracy. Now, with an extensive and diverse array of educational and professional experiences, he has been able to turn those passions toward the work of being Kentucky’s next commissioner of education.

Twelve director’s chairs were placed in the parking lot of Thomas Gym on the campus of Kentucky School for the Deaf (KSD). These chairs – properly distanced – were to signify that the 2020 graduates of KSD are now the directors of their own lives.

Jessica Napier, alongside friends and family, waited to hear if she would be named the 2020 SHAPE America National Health Education Teacher of the Year during the May 5 virtual ceremony.

Kentucky’s public high schools strive to prepare their students for life after high school. By the time students receive their diploma, the hope is that they are college or career ready. Fern Creek High School (Jefferson County) Academies of Louisville Coach Sara Wilson-Abell created the Adulting 101 program to focus on life skills.

Staff from both the Kentucky School for the Blind and the Kentucky School for the Deaf set out to personally deliver non-traditional instruction materials to their students throughout the state. The visits provide some positivity for students and staff during these unprecedented times.

Elena Kamenetzky, a Japanese teacher at Eastern High School (Jefferson County), was named the 2020 Southern Conference on Language Teaching Teacher of the Year. She’ll go on to the national competition to face off against the other regional winners for the honor of being named the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Language Teacher of the Year.

Kentucky Board of Education Chairman David Karem has deep roots in Kentucky’s public education. From his work while serving in the Kentucky General Assembly to saving Bloom Elementary Jefferson County), Karem has dedicated his career to the children of the Commonwealth.

COVID-19 has canceled plans for students throughout Kentucky. When a performance was postponed for the drama class at McCracken County High School, the students decided that the show must go on.

Laura Cole, a mathematics teacher in Kenton County who was the recipient of a Milken Educator Award, chose teaching over accounting and has impacted both students and fellow teachers.

Harry Burchett, superintendent of Harrison County schools, explains how he and his staff handled being the first Kentucky school district to cease in-person classes because of COVID-19.