GoTeachKY names 21 new ambassadors for 2024-2025 school year

(FRANKFORT, KY) – The Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) has named the new class of ambassadors for the GoTeachKY initiative.

The mission of GoTeachKY is to ensure that all students across the Commonwealth have equitable access to effective educators. GoTeachKY seeks to recruit the next generation of teachers in Kentucky, helping remedy the critical teacher shortage that affects every state in the U.S.

Ambassadors in the GoTeachKY initiative have three main goals:

• Communicate with and inspire students in high school and college to consider teaching as a career.
  
• Communicate with potential and current teachers to promote the rewards and opportunities associated with a career in teaching.
  
• Support and promote the central focus areas, programs and organizations of GoTeachKY, such as Educators Rising Kentucky and the Teaching and Learning career pathway.

Ambassadors were selected from a pool of applicants from across the state who answered the call for educators interested in supporting the initiative and helping promote the teaching profession.

The 2025 GoTeachKY ambassadors are:

• Jennifer Brown, Menifee County
• Natalie Canizal, Fayette County
• Brooke Coffman, Shelby County
• Hayley Dant, Boone County
• Jessica Dawn Thrasher, Wayne County
• Zach Fisher, Jefferson County
• Preston Graves, Simpson County
• Michelle Gross, Spencer County
• Melissa Hall, Breathitt County
• Amber Hinkle, Bell County
• Madeline Janel Morgan, Williamstown Independent
• Allison King, Paintsville Independent
• Rachel Maxwell, Scott County
• Sadie Rice, Fayette County
• Ryan Scott Johnson, Barren County
• Ashley K. Smith, Jefferson County
• Alicia C. Thomas, Fayette County
• Pennie Thomas, Boyd County
• Sarah Wallace, Anderson County
• Sarah Webster, Boone County
• Crista Williams, Warren County

Ambassadors must hold or have held a teaching position in a Kentucky public school and have at least four years of experience as a teacher, principal or other certified school staff member.

Each ambassador has a unique story that brought them into the teaching profession and their stories will be featured on social media as examples of the different pathways available to future educators.

Ambassadors also will represent GoTeachKY at career fairs and other speaking engagements.

For more, visit the GoTeachKY Ambassador Program webpage or e-mail KDE Program Consultant Justin Edwards.

Paintsville Independent Hires Superintendent 

“I feel like I’m prepared, in a sense, in that I know our school district very well,” Auxier told the Paintsville Herald. “I know the community. I live right here in town. I walk to work, and I’ve done that for years. I think what prepares me best is my relationship with our community, with our parents, with our kids, with our faculty. I think the education business is all about relationships anyway.”

Auxier, who began his new role Oct. 1, said he plans to use the school district’s seal, “In Search of Excellence,” as a starting point for his administration.

“I’m going to try to make decisions with that thought in mind,” he said. “Is this decision going to help us in search of excellence or is it going to take us away from that?”

Article Source by Kentucky School Boards Association – Follow the link for more by KSBA https://www.ksba.org/protected/ArticleView.aspx?iid=6YAUPUI&dasi=1B

STEPHANIE HAMMONDS NAMED SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHER OF THE YEAR

A first-generation college student, Hammonds earned a Bachelor of Arts in Learning and Behavior Disorders (LBD) from Pikeville College (now University of Pikeville) in 1994 and enrolled at MSU to earn her Rank II certification in 2022. The program provided substantial preparation and the flexibility she needed to continue her education while raising a family.  

“MSU helped me become the educator I am now by continuously challenging me,” Hammonds said. “I enjoyed my field experience and was able to witness some of the best teachers in the state in their element and took the strengths I observed and incorporated them into my teaching practices.”  

“Stephanie has been an excellent student at MSU, and her professional achievements reflect her leadership and caring nature,” said Dr. April Miller, dean of the Ernst and Sara Lane Volgenau College of Education. “We are very proud that she has been recognized by Kentucky Council for Exceptional Children (KCEC) as the Special Education Teacher of the Year.”  

She has been with the Carl D. Perkins Job Corps for the past two years. Previously, she taught as an LBD instructor at Paintsville High School, Betsy Lanye Elementary School, Betsy Layne High School, and Adams Middle School in Floyd County.  

In her 30th year of teaching, Hammonds said she would make her remaining years in teaching count and invest the same amount of time, effort, and energy into her students.  

“The biggest benefits of being a special education teacher has always been being a small part of helping students reach their individual potential and goals,” she said. “The most fulfilling part of my job is the population I work with and being privileged to witness their individual success.”  

Source: https://www.moreheadstate.edu/news/2024/02/eagle-alum-named-special-education-teacher-of-the-year

Jami Ward earns this years KDPP Award

‘Small school, big impact’: Paintsville students to have fruitful Christmas break

PAINTSVILLE, Ky. (WYMT) – Students in Paintsville packed their pantries with produce Thursday, each taking home a bag of fruit as a district Christmas gift.

”Our Board of Education has been adamant that we start helping our kids, because of what’s going on with inflation and stuff,” said superintendent David Gibson. “So, this is one way that we can give back to our community- to give back to our students, who we think are some of the best kids in the world.”

The district used some of its excess funds to buy enough fruit for more than 800 gift bags, then the seniors and juniors at the high school helped divide them up and personalize the bags for their peers.

“This is a small school so it feels more like a family and a community,” said senior Camryn Helton.

The idea to make the district-wide gift something sustainable and substantial was important to administrators. Culinary teacher Melissa Castle said the students were able to take part in giving back in a way that could have a true impact on someone who will be home without school meals in the two weeks to come.

”It’s a gift that they can eat and it’s also a gift that they may not have in their house households every day,” she said. ”We take for granted that everybody has fresh fruits and vegetables in their home and they don’t. So, to be able to offer them something that’s fresh to eat during these next two weeks? I think it’s just a gift that will keep on giving.”

Board member Joe Porter said it was important to the Board of Education to see the students take home the provisions, since they do so much to make the district proud.

“Students appreciate what we do for them, but they do much more for us than we do for them,” he said.

Paintsville High School Principal Tiffany Austin said the project is a drop in the bucket of the outpouring of love her students are always willing to give.

”We may be a small school, but we’re making a big impact,” she said.

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