Julie Moore, a K-5 STEM lab teacher at Wellington Elementary School (Fayette County), has been named the 2017 Outstanding Elementary Science Educator by the Kentucky Science Teachers Association (KSTA).

Moore will be honored Nov. 10 during KSTA’s annual conference in Lexington. Along with a plaque, she will receive a $100 grant for enhancing her classroom instruction, a one-year KSTA membership and complimentary registration for next year’s conference.

Moore has taught in Fayette County schools since 2003 and has been at Wellington Elementary for five years.

“Though I love my time with all my students in the lab and on our school grounds – exploring, inquiring, asking questions, wondering alongside them – the greatest accomplishment for me as a lab teacher is how I can help students change their mindset about the world,” Moore said. “It is connecting with my students and inspiring them to think deeply and wonder widely when they are with me, but more importantly all the time when they are not.”