While the vast majority of teachers are able to balance the countless duties they face day in and day out, occasionally, you come across a teacher who makes it look effortless. One such person is 2nd grade teacher Markayla Stevens at Pikeville Elementary (Pikeville Independent).
Cathy Conley is a graduate of Morehead State University and is in her 28th year of teaching, 27 of them at Knott County Central High School.
One of the toughest challenges we face in the education world is finding young people who have the drive, determination and enthusiasm to enter the teaching field. Every school leader knows just how difficult it can be to find high-quality educators to fill the various roles we have.
Sara Beth Boggs has seen and experienced much of what this world has to offer, not only as a traveler, but as a teacher as well. As a child of a U.S. Air Force family and as a U.S. Army wife, Boggs has lived in six different states and the Aviano Air Force Base in Italy. She has spent the past 22 years teaching English in classrooms across the country.
Kevin Dailey, a U.S. history teacher at Ballyshannon Middle School (Boone County), has been an educator for 10 years. The Covington native originally wanted to pursue a career in architectural design, but he realized his true passion was to become an educator.
Julia Bishop is a 5th-grade reading teacher at Owsley Elementary. She has only been in her current role for the last three years; prior to this, she was a special education teacher in a neighboring school district - a rival I’m told - and a graduate of Eastern Kentucky University.
Ever since his senior year in high school, Samuel Whitehead wanted to be a math teacher and an officer in the U.S. Army. Twenty years later, he is an advanced mathematics teacher at Rowan County Senior High School and a chemical intelligence officer for the 149th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade in the Kentucky Army National Guard.
Seneca High School (Jefferson County) is a lot like the high school I went to growing up: it's extremely diverse, offers incredible college and vocational opportunities to its students, and is full of hope and perseverance that many from the outside just do not see.
Ryan Davis is a mathematics teacher at Waggener High School (Jefferson County) who is passionate about creating change in his community with his students. He is a 2023 Teacher Achievement Award winner.
One of the most exciting events the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) puts on every year is the Student Technology Leadership Program (STLP) State Championship, where thousands of students from across the Commonwealth will convene in Lexington to compete against each other in an effort to use modern technology to solve issues in today’s society.