Kentucky School Advocate
December 2020
Jefferson Co. teacher wins national award
Elena Kamenetzky, a Japanese teacher at Eastern High School at Jefferson County Schools, was named the National Language Teacher of the Year by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL).
Kamenetzky, the first Kentucky teacher to ever win the ACTFL award, will serve as the national spokesperson for language learning in 2021. The award was presented Nov. 20 during the 2020 Virtual ACTFL Convention & World Languages Expo.Before winning the national award, Kamenetzky was named state award winner by the Kentucky World Language Association and regional award winner by the Southern Conference on Language Teaching (SCOLT).
ACTFL represents more than 13,000 language educators and administrators from elementary through graduate education, as well as in government and industry.
Before coming to Eastern High School in 2010, Kamenetzky was an assistant English teacher at two middle schools in Japan from 2006 to 2009. She travels with Eastern High School students to Japan as part of a summer exchange every two years. Kamenetzky has been a board member of the Kentucky Association of Japanese Language Teachers since 2012.
“I want to congratulate Elena Kamenetzky on being named the 2021 ACTFL National Language Teacher of the Year,” said Howie Berman, ACTFL Executive Director. “In a year that has been incredibly challenging for so many, I commend Elena for her hard work, perseverance, and dedication to her learners. I look forward to working with her next year in her capacity as Teacher of the Year.”
Two district classified employees nominated for national award
Robert Walker, a school safety and wellness coordinator in Harrison County, and Shelly Thomas, a family resource center coordinator in Barren County, have been selected to represent Kentucky for the national 2020 Recognizing Inspirational School Employees (RISE) Award.Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman on Nov. 16 announced the selections for the new award, which recognizes classified school employees who have displayed excellence in serving students. The program is overseen by the U.S. Department of Education (USED) and the national winner will be announced by the U.S. Secretary of Education in spring 2021.
Walker (right) and Thomas (left) will receive the Kentucky 2020-2021 Education Support Staff Professional Award, which was created this year at the state level by Gov. Andy Beshear and Coleman to recognize the state’s classified school employees.“As a classroom teacher, I know I could not be successful in my job without the work of countless classified employees,” Coleman said. “Often, their work goes unnoticed and unthanked. I am grateful we have the RISE Award which honors the considerable contributions our classified employees make to every school district in the Commonwealth.”
Walker and Thomas represent more than 46,000 classified school employees who serve a vital and often overlooked role. KDE received 96 nominations for the new award.