Two local teachers are on the short list to become Kentucky Teacher of the Year.
Steffanie Skiles from McKell Middle School in Greenup County and Miranda Newland from Campbell Elementary School in Raceland-Worthington both received the Valvoline Teacher Achievement Award. They are two of 24 from across the state to receive the recognition.
Eight apiece from the elementary, middle and high school levels were recognized with the award. The 24 are semifinalists for the Kentucky Teacher of the Year.
âIâm just beside myself regarding it,â said Steffanie Skiles, McKell Middle School music teacher. âItâs an honor to represent McKell Middle School, Greenup County Schools. As a music teacher, itâs not very often you hear at the state level about music folks in this capacity, so Iâm just beside myself.â
WURTLAND Students at Wurtland Middle School will get a head start toward engineering careers beginning this fall, when the school launches its new Amazon Future Engineer program.
They will be learning to write computer code, a skill already in high demand in high-tech industries and an important component in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics â STEM â disciplines that are essential in todayâs schools.
The program is conducted entirely online.
The curriculum is being supplied free by the dot-com giant, which is concentrating on underserved communities, said STEM teacher Miruka Williams.
The commitment promises to help children and the tech industry both. âAmazon sees a coming shortage of people with needed skills, so it is reaching out in particular to economically disadvantaged communities,â she said.
Winter storm causes closures; more snow predicted
Brothers Gavyn Riffe and Grayson Merrill in Franklin Furnace riding around in the snow.
Shelby Madden with a big snowball, at McKell Middle School in South Shore, Kentucky
Isabella Morman with ‘Olaf’ in Wheelersburg.
Fun Sleigh riding: Eli Stephens, Cara Reynolds, Carlee Reynolds and Aly Stephens on Kentucky Trail in Minford.
SCIOTO Ice and snow once again brought businesses to a halt after the winter weather made roadways hazardous for drivers.
Despite road crews’ best efforts to keep roads clear, ice and snow won the battle Monday evening and Tuesday, causing trees to fall, power outages, roads to become impassable and a Level 2 Snow Emergency to be declared.
Former Greenup County Schools superintendent John Younce makes a presentation at a public hearing Thursday evening on a proposal to raise the public tax by 4% to renovate the high school. The Daily Independent File Photo
SOUTH SHORE Former school superintendent John Younce was a role model for a generation of educators in the Greenup County District, where he is being mourned following his death Thursday. We sometimes joked we were going to get bracelets saying WWJYD, for What would John Younce do, said Chris Ailster, assistant principal at McKell Middle School.
Younce was principal at McKell when Ailster got his first teaching job there and Ailster remembers him as a family friend, a coach, a father figure and a dedicated educator.
SOUTH SHORE McKell Middle School librarian Jenifer Webster was scrabbling around for ideas to enhance literacy among her students, and what she came up with would boggle the mind.