Kentucky Board of Education (KBE) News(FRANKFORT, KY) – Gov. Andy Beshear has appointed Juston Pate, Mike Borchers and Paul Long to the Kentucky Board of Education (KBE).

Pate has served as president and CEO of Elizabethtown Community and Technical College since January 2017. He began his career as an English and humanities teacher at the high school level before transitioning to higher education, serving as provost of Maysville Community and Technical College and as interim president of Hazard Community and Technical College. Pate will represent Supreme Court District 2 on the board.

Borchers retired as superintendent of Ludlow Independent in June after 13 years in the role. He spent his entire 29-year career in Ludlow, including time as a teacher, coach and administrator. Borchers also served as a member of the Local Superintendents Advisory Council for two years, advising the commissioner of education and the KBE on the development of administrative regulations and education policy. Borchers will represent Supreme Court District 6 on the board.

Long has been a lawyer in Stanford for more than three decades. He served as Lincoln County Attorney from 1990-1997 and is currently on the Lincoln County Industrial Board. Long and his wife, Carol, established an endowed scholarship in honor of his parents, James and Bettye Long, to help students in Lincoln County attend Lindsey Wilson College in Columbia. Long will represent Supreme Court District 3 on the board.

Beshear also reappointed four members to the KBE: Holly Bloodworth, Steve Trimble, Sharon Porter Robinson and Lu S. Young. Robinson and Young currently serve as chair and vice chair, respectively, of the KBE.

Bloodworth, the 2014 Kentucky Teacher of the Year, spent more than 30 years in K-12 education for Murray Independent and continues to serve Kentucky’s schools through roles at Murray State University. She taught all subjects in grades K-3 and also served as a library specialist at Murray Elementary School. A National Board Certified Teacher, she also supports teachers on their path to National Board certification. Bloodworth represents Supreme Court District 1 on the board.

Trimble is a retired educator with more than 30 years of service to Kentucky’s public schools. He spent the majority of his public school career working in Johnson County, where he started as a wrestling coach and health and physical education instructor. He later worked in administrative roles before becoming superintendent for eight years until his retirement in 2014. In 2010, Trimble was awarded the Superintendent of the Year award from the Kentucky Educational Development Corporation. Trimble represents Supreme Court District 7 on the board.

Robinson is a retired educator whose 31-year career took her from positions ranging from the classroom to the U.S. Department of Education.

Robinson began her career as a classroom teacher in Fayette County and later taught at a U.S. Air Force base in Bitburg, Germany. She also worked with the Jefferson County Education Consortium and served as director of the National Education Association’s National Center for Innovation. Most recently, she served as president and chief executive officer of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education from 2005 to 2017. She represents Supreme Court District 4 on the board.

Young has more than 30 years of service to public education and continues to serve educators through her role with the University of Kentucky (UK) College of Education. Young is a clinical title series professor in UK’s Department of Educational Leadership Studies. She was superintendent for Jessamine County from 2004 to 2013 and was named the 2012 Superintendent of the Year by the Kentucky Association of School Administrators. Young represents Supreme Court District 5 on the board.

The appointments of all KBE members are subject to confirmation by the Kentucky State Senate.