Kentucky School Advocate
April 2022

Kevin Dailey, a social studies teacher at Ballyshannon Middle School in Boone County Schools, was celebrated Feb. 23 as the latest Kentucky educator to receive the Milken Family Foundation National Educator Award.

Dailey was presented with the award, which includes a $25,000 unrestricted cash prize, in a surprise ceremony at his school that included students, faculty, district and community leaders, Kentucky Education Commissioner Jason E. Glass, Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman and Milken Educator Awards Vice President Stephanie Bishop.

Dailey teaches 8th-grade U.S. History at Ballyshannon Middle, where he has been on the faculty since 2019.

“I want to thank the team that I work with at Ballyshannon,” he said. “We have a really great team of educators. Despite all of the challenges the world throws at us, we overcome them. I want to thank my students at Ballyshannon and all of the students I had prior.”

Dailey earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree in social studies education from the University of Kentucky (UK). He began his career as an aerospace and architectural designer before he found his calling as a social studies teacher. He taught at Gallatin County High School for six years before coming to Ballyshannon Middle.

A lifelong learner, Dailey has taught in China through UK’s Confucius Institute, attended the Foreign Policy Association’s Great Decisions Teacher Training Institute and the University of Louisville’s McConnell Center for Teaching Scholars.

The Milken Family Foundation has presented more than 2,800 Milken Educator Awards since 1987, including 57 to Kentucky educators. The awards alternate yearly between elementary and secondary educators.