Woodford County Director of Special Education Tracey Francis, from left, Berea Independent Director of Special Education Jennifer Whitt, and Kentucky School for the Deaf Principal Lynn Petrey speak to the Kentucky Board of Education while being awarded the 2024 Grissom Award for Innovation in Special Education. Photo by Joe Ragusa, Kentucky Department of Education, Aug. 8, 2024
(FRANKFORT, KY) – Leaders of the Purpose in Action Parker Hannifin Collaboration Team were presented with the 2024 Grissom Award for Innovation in Special Education at the Kentucky Board of Education’s (KBE’s) meeting on Aug. 8.
Also recognized were Woodford County Director of Special Education Tracey Francis and Berea Independent Director of Special Education Jennifer Whitt, who led the project in their districts, and Kentucky School for the Deaf Principal Lynn Petrey, who spearheaded the Purpose in Action Collaboration Team. The group was recognized for leading the collective effort to increase accessibility for individuals with disabilities at Parker Hannifin, a Lexington manufacturing plant.
The Grissom Award is given each year to Kentuckians or a Kentucky organization to honor outstanding dedication to improving student achievement for students with disabilities. The award recognizes those who exhibit leadership, commitment and service to promote high student achievement through instructional equity and in closing the achievement gap for all children.
Petrey and Elaine Bailey, public information officer for Woodford County Schools, nominated Francis, Whitt and the Purpose in Action Collaboration Team for their dedication to improving the educational experiences of students with learning or behavior differences and for their leadership in implementing the student-led Purpose in Action collaborative project in their districts.
“By empowering students to take charge of their learning and advocate for their needs, Jennifer and Tracey facilitated a transformative educational experience that extended beyond the classroom,” Petrey said about Whitt and Francis in his nomination letter.
The project, funded by a Purpose in Action grant, “is the first of its kind in Kentucky public education, in Parker Hannifin history and possibly in our nation,” Bailey said in her nomination letter that included the collaboration team headed by Petrey.
The project involved students with and without disabilities working together to design and create an Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliant workstation in partnership with Berea Makerspace, a member-run workspace located in Berea, and Parker Hannifin, a global Fortune 250 manufacturing company.
It also created additional opportunities for postsecondary outcomes for students with disabilities.
“This project is unique in that students were provided with the direct opportunity to work in a professional environment alongside engineers and the human resources manager,” Bailey said. “Together, the team of students and team of adults worked to elevate and achieve ADA compliance of the work cell and ultimately the entire workplace environment.”
The Kentucky Board of Education and Commissioner of Education Robbie Fletcher pose with the winners of the 2024 Grissom Award for Innovation in Special Education. Photo by Joe Ragusa, Kentucky Department of Education, Aug. 8, 2024
Bailey said students worked directly with the manufacturing company to create a talent pipeline for students with disabilities to graduate from Woodford County and enter the workforce as skilled employees.
“Diversifying the workforce and tapping into a population of people that is too often overlooked were some of the ultimate goals Parker Hannifin had in this project,” Bailey explained. “The impact this had on our students was immense. Students who never spoke up in class presented in a room of 100 people. Students who walked with their heads down stood tall. Students with overall limited mobility found their voices. All of the students involved reported that they ‘felt heard.’”
Bailey said a student team member who uses a wheelchair remarked, “People think that we can’t do things because we have disabilities, and that’s not true. This is showing them we can do things.”
The students without disabilities were also “profoundly impacted by hearing the personal experience their peers with disabilities face every day,” added Bailey. “One of the student leaders said, ‘Now I go into buildings and I consider how someone in a wheelchair would be able to navigate it. I want to fix the problems.’”
Francis said this was “one of the most rewarding projects” she has ever led.
“This project and the focus on positive outcomes for students to transition to the workforce with job ready skills and hands-on experience is beyond any expectation I could have imagined,” Francis said. “Overall, the project gave our students with disabilities a voice and allowed them to be seen at their own discretion. Along with the empathy and compassion that this project brought, these outcomes are the most important and rewarding outcomes of this project for me.”
Kentucky Commissioner of Education Robbie Fletcher offered his congratulations to the recipients and thanked them for their commitment to the students of Kentucky.
“On behalf of the Kentucky Board of Education and all the staff here at the Kentucky Department of Education, I want to personally thank you for your exceptional dedication to the education of all students,” Fletcher said. “Your efforts and enthusiasm in leading this collaboration to a successful outcome shows you are ‘all in’ when it comes to Kentucky’s students.”
“I am surprised and honored to be one of the recipients of the Grissom Award for Innovation in Special Education,” said Whitt, describing the project as “innovative.”
“Through a collaborative effort with Parker Hannifin of Lexington and the involvement of students from these two high schools, they successfully created inclusive workstations that enhance accessibility for individuals with disabilities,” Petrey said. “This project has deepened student learning and empowered them to design solutions with a meaningful community impact.”
“I am so honored and in awe of this recognition; however, I could not have led the work without a team of educators and staff that believed in the purpose and who also worked endless hours to ensure that all students had access and the opportunity to participate,” Francis said. “Also, the support of our superintendent (Danny Adkins) was imperative to this work.”
The Grissom Award for Innovation in Special Education was established to honor the work and dedication of the late, long-time Kentucky Department of Education associate commissioner. Grissom was employed by the department from 1993 to 2010. She previously served as a director at the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction and as a teacher of special needs and gifted students in Red Springs, N.C.
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