Giving thanks this November
November is often considered as a month of thankfulness. With Thanksgiving and the official start of the holiday season, November is a good time to remember all of the positive things that have happened in our lives.
November is often considered as a month of thankfulness. With Thanksgiving and the official start of the holiday season, November is a good time to remember all of the positive things that have happened in our lives.
Rewind to March 2022. Just like every other teacher I know, I quickly scanned the 20,000 emails in my school inbox (if yours is less than that, share your secret) during my lunch period and skipped right over an email from “Kentucky Teacher of the Year.” Let’s face it – why would they be emailing me?
Almost two years ago, I quietly received an email that I was nominated for the 2022 Kentucky Teacher of the Year. I remember thinking that I would never be picked because I didn’t feel like I had done anything worth celebrating.
Mandy Perez, a 6th-grade English and language arts teacher at Crittenden County Middle School, reacts in surprise as she is named the 2023 Kentucky Teacher of the Year at an in-person ceremony on Sept. 20 at the Kentucky State Capitol Rotunda. She also was named the Kentucky Middle School Teacher of the Year.Photo by Jacob Perkins, Sept. 20, 2022 [...]
When Mandy Perez was little, she remembers asking her elementary school teachers at the end of every school year for their extra worksheets. “I would take those worksheets home and play school with my little sister during the summertime,” she said. “I never stop learning, and I love working with children. It’s my passion in life.”
As the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) continues to build on its new vision for education in the Commonwealth called United We Learn, leadership from the department encouraged district leaders to share the news of the new Kentucky United We Learn Council.