Take Note

Kentucky School Advocate

November 2017 

Former KSBA president honored
C. Ed Massey, who was KSBA’s president from 2005–2007 and went on to serve as president of the National School Boards Association, was presented with the Kentucky Board of Education’s 17th annual Joseph W. Kelly Award during the board’s meeting Oct. 4.

“Ed has been an advocate for public education in Kentucky in the courtroom, the boardroom and even the classroom,” Kentucky Board of Education Chairwoman Mary Gwen Wheeler said. “We’re grateful for his support and confident that he will continue to work for Kentucky’s students for years to come.”

 

Massey is a 21-year member of the Boone County school board and a partner in the law firm of Blankenship, Massey and Associates, Attorneys at Law, which has offices in Erlanger and Dry Ridge.

The Kelly award, named for former KBE chair and businessman Joe Kelly, is given to businesspeople who offer outstanding leadership and service toward promoting school improvement and equitable educational opportunities for all Kentucky children.

Boone County Superintendent Randy Poe, in a letter nominating Massey, noted that Massey is a major proponent of the values of public education. Massey’s parents are retired educators, and his children are recent graduates of Boone County schools.

Massey also is a member of the board of directors of the National PTA and chairs the President’s Advisory Council of the American Public Education Foundation.

KSBA has a new training chief at its helm. Laura Cole assumed the position of board team development director Oct. 16. Executive Director Kerri Schelling had been handling those duties while serving as interim executive director, and before that, associate executive director.

Cole comes to KSBA from the Kentucky Oil & Gas Association, where she held the post of associate director. Prior to that, she was the chief operating officer for the Kentucky Broadcasters Association. She has over 10 years of association management experience and is a certified association executive (CAE) who currently serves on the Kentucky Society of Association Executives’ board of directors. Cole holds a bachelor’s degree in integrated strategic communications from the University of Kentucky.

Two KSBA regions have new representatives following elections during Fall Regional Meetings in their respective areas. 

 

Somerset Independent school board Chairwoman Elaine Wilson (right) was chosen as chairperson for the Middle Cumberland Region. Wilson, who began her school board service in 1998, is director of Cultural Diversity at Somerset Community College. She holds a bachelor’s degree from University of Kentucky, a Master of Science in Social Administration degree from Case Western Reserve University, and is in a doctoral program in educational leadership and policy studies at Eastern Kentucky University. Wilson is a member of the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence, incoming president of the Kentucky Humanities Council, and a member of the Friends of Kentucky Library Board and Kentucky State Advisory Council on Libraries. She is also a former president of the University of Kentucky Alumni Association.