Everybody’s favorite neighbor Fred Rogers said when he was young and saw something that scared him, his mother would tell him to look for the helpers. In the days since tornadoes left a wide swath of death and destruction in western Kentucky, I have heard about so many of the people who work in our public schools who volunteered to be one of those helpers.
The selfless acts of kindness displayed by school personnel after the historic 265.7-mile tornado on Dec. 10 and 11 were recognized Jan. 27 by the Kentucky General Assembly.
With Gov. Andy Beshear signing House Bill 5 into law last week, leadership from the Kentucky Department of Education met virtually on Jan. 20 with superintendents of districts impacted by the December tornado outbreak to discuss details of the bill and the process for appropriating the $30 million made available to KDE for disaster relief.
Four Kentucky public schools, already among the state’s 45 winners of the America’s Healthiest Schools designation by the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, have won the additional honor of the first-ever Family Engagement Distinction presented by Kohl’s Healthy at Home.
Forty-seven schools have been named Bright Spots in Kentucky Education, recognition for schools in which students performed better than expected on measures of educational achievement.
Kentucky FFA was well represented at the 93rd Annual National FFA Convention, held virtually Oct. 27-29. More than 100,000 FFA members, advisers and supporters registered for the event, which also was broadcast live on RFD TV.
Three superintendents from around Kentucky and the leaders of their local health departments compared COVID-19 experiences during the Oct. 13 Special Superintendents’ Webcast. All agreed that close cooperation between schools, health authorities and local officials are essential to controlling outbreaks.
Forty-four Kentucky schools are among those recognized nationwide as 2020 America’s Healthiest Schools.
Lee Todd, a former president of the University of Kentucky and a member of the Kentucky Board of Education, said it’s important for educators to help students realize what is possible beyond the world they can see.
The Kentucky Board of Education (KBE) voted at its regular meeting Feb. 4 to grant waivers to school boards wishing to hold off on 12 hours of charter school authorizer training until they receive a charter school application.