24 Valvoline Teacher Achievement Award winners named
The Kentucky Department of Education and Valvoline Inc. have selected 24 Kentucky teachers as recipients of the 2020 Valvoline Teacher Achievement Awards qualifying them to compete for the 2020 Kentucky Teacher of the Year Award. (See list at right)
The list will be narrowed to nine finalists before a May 20 ceremony in Frankfort where the Kentucky Elementary, Middle and High School Teachers of the Year will be named. From this group, the Kentucky Teacher of the Year will be named and will represent the state in the National Teacher of the Year competition.
Building a Groundswell of support for education by engaging parents, communities
The Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence has launched a statewide campaign to engage families and communities in effective and sustainable efforts to improve schools and student achievement.
The Groundswell Initiative for engagement in public education will give families and communities the knowledge and training to become academic advocates for all students and the schools they attend. It also will provide technical assistance and training to schools and community-based organizations in effective family engagement policies, programs, resources and activities.
The initiative is supported with a five-year $5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education and administered by several Prichard Committee partners across the state:
• Children, Inc., Covington, a nonprofit provider of child care, family support and school age services.
• The National Center for Families Learning, Louisville, which works to eradicate poverty through education solutions for families.
• Partners for Education at Berea College, which focuses on ensuring the success of all Appalachian students.
The goal of the initiative is to build support for better academic outcomes through family and community engagement. It aims to build families’ and communities’ capacity to support student learning, remove barriers to family engagement in school improvement efforts, build families’ capacity to increase early learning, help families understand the importance of choosing the right areas of study for students, increase opportunities for parents to lead at the school, local, regional and state levels.
Families statewide will receive parent leadership training through the committee’s long-standing Commonwealth Institute for Parent Leadership and identify, develop and disseminate resources for families and educators that support family engagement in student learning and policy decision-making.
Education Calendar
July 12-13: KSBA’s Summer Leadership Institute, Lexington
May 6-10: National Teacher Appreciation Week
May 7: National Teacher Appreciation Day
May 8: National School Nurse Day
May 8: National Bike to School Day
May 20: Kentucky Teacher of the Year ceremony, Frankfort May 21: Primary Election Day
June 8: 30th Anniversary of the Rose v. Council for Better Education decision
June 14: KSBA’s 13th Annual Federal & State Law Update, Lexington