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The Kentucky Derby Festival Foundation Academic Challenge Presented by Sullivan University is set for this Saturday, March 25. Hosted at a new location, the Hyatt Regency Hotel Downtown, this year’s quick-recall tournament, produced by Jefferson County Public Schools is scheduled for 9 AM to 3PM.
“We add more teams to the competition every year,” said Jeff English, President of the KDF Foundation. “The Academic Challenge lets us showcase the academic achievements of both the local students and the public schools.”
The Academic Challenge Presented by Sullivan University represents an opportunity for elementary students from all over the county to test their intellect by answering questions pertaining to math, science, social studies, language arts and humanities. This year’s competition will feature 14 teams from local elementary schools and more than 200 students.
“Sullivan University is pleased to sponsor the Academic Challenge,” said Glenn Sullivan, President of Sullivan University. “We often look for ways to support events that encourage and celebrate academic achievement. We wish all the participants well in the tournament and in their future endeavors.”
The top four schools will be awarded trophies, with the champion and runner-up also receiving monetary awards. It’s free for spectators. For more information contact Doug Wilham at douglas.wilham@jefferson.kyschools.us or (502) 485-3702.
Sixteen seniors from Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS) have been awarded the 2017 Vogt Educational & Leadership Scholarship, which recognizes the students for their academic achievements and leadership in and out of the classroom. The students will be celebrated for their accomplishments during the annual awards luncheon, held yesterday at The Olmsted, 3701 Frankfort Ave.
Prior to his death in 1999, Henry V. Heuser Sr. established the endowed scholarship fund at the Community Foundation of Louisville to provide $10,000 college scholarships annually to remarkable JCPS high school seniors. This special award honors exceptional students throughout Jefferson County who have demonstrated high standards of scholarship, leadership, character and citizenship. Including this year, more than $2.7 million has been awarded to 278 students.
Henry V. Heuser Jr. will host the annual awards luncheon to present the scholarships. He will be joined by Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer, JCPS Superintendent Dr. Donna Hargens, JCPS principals, more than 100 business and community leaders, and several university and college presidents from the region who have contributed additional scholarship incentives if the awardees attend their colleges.
Student winners are selected based on SAT/ACT scores and cumulative GPAs, as well as demonstrated community and campus leadership, participation in extracurricular activities, and recommendations from principals and community leaders.
The 2017 Vogt Educational & Leadership Scholarship recipients are:
- RyAnn Schoenbaechler, Atherton High School
- Laina Meyerowitz, Ballard High School
- Sylvia Ramsey, Butler Traditional High School
- Matthew Sato, Brown School
- Jasmine Scott, Central High School Magnet Career Academy
- Lydia Mason, duPont Manual High School
- Evan Conder, Eastern High School
- Shan’Taya Cowan, Fairdale High School
- Mary Daniels, Iroquois High School
- Anna Nelson, Jeffersontown High School
- Cameron Fontes, Louisville Male High School
- Johnathan Frech, Pleasure Ridge Park High School
- Julia Easley, Seneca High School
- James Painter, Southern High School
- Kelsey Gatton, Valley High School
- Ethan Taylor, Waggener High School
64 Students from Kentucky and Southern Indiana to Compete
Students from around Kentucky and Southern Indiana will compete in the 24th annual Ford Motor Company Kentucky Derby Festival Spelling Bee today at 11 a.m. in the Bomhard Theater at the Kentucky Center for the Arts (501 W. Main Street in Louisville). 64 students representing 62 counties will compete on Saturday. They qualified by winning their respective school and county bees.
Said Kimberly Hofmann, Ford Zone Manager for the Cincinnati region: “As one of the top employers in the state, Ford is proud to help recognize the dedicated and talented students from all over the region in the Kentucky Derby Festival Spelling Bee.” Ford’s commitment to driving a brighter future in Kentucky is well served by supporting this important educational event.
The overall champion of this year’s Spelling Bee will receive the John & Joan Murphy Memorial Scholarship Fund, a $10,000 U.S. Savings Bond at maturity. 2nd Place receives the Barbara Cox Memorial Scholarship, a $5,000 U.S. Savings Bond at maturity. The next three top finishers also receive savings bonds – $3,000 for third, $1,500 for fourth and $1,000 for fifth. The prize money will be provided by the Kentucky Derby Festival Foundation – the Derby Festival’s charitable arm.
“Spelling is a skill that never goes out of style, so we’re happy to be able to support these outstanding students and showcase their skills,” said Mike Berry, KDF President and CEO. “The Spelling Bee is one of the Festival’s more far-reaching events, with participants from around Kentucky and Southern Indiana, and it’s always a nail-biter up until the final word is spelled.”
In addition to a $10,000 saving bond, the overall Spelling Bee champion will receive a Britannica online subscription gift certificate, Blue Orange Games: Speedeebee, an Amazon.com gift card and a trophy. The winner will also have the opportunity to ride the Winner’s Float in the 62nd annual Republic Bank Pegasus Parade on May 4th.
The Kentucky Derby Festival Spelling Bee is sponsored by Ford Motor Company, with Media Sponsors Kentucky Monthly and 840WHAS.
According to Kentucky’s The Family Foundation, nearly half the money contributed last year to a political action committee that opposed Republican candidates in state legislative races came from teacher’s PACS and teachers’ union PACs that oppose school choice and charter schools, and more than two-thirds of the contributions came from out-of-state.
Kentucky Family Values received $3,300,769 in the Fall 2016 general election, $1,375,000 that came from teachers’ PACs. And, of that $3,300,769, $2,216,279 came from out of state.
“Kentucky Family Values spent its money supporting Democrats and opposing Republicans in state legislative races,” said Martin Cothran spokesman for the group. “These are groups that represent the educational status quo in this state who are now asking the very people whose election they opposed to give credence to their arguments against parental choice.”
In the two months immediately prior to the Fall 2014 general election, Kentucky Family Values received $1,617,575, over half of which was from out-of-state entities and $650,000 of which was contributed by teachers’ groups.
Juniors in Kentucky public high schools will take the ACT on March 21. These tips from the Kentucky Higher Education Assistance Authority (KHEAA) may help students do better on the test.
- Read, read, read. Most of the ACT is based on reading. The more you read, the better you’ll do.
- Take advantage of any free ACT prep courses offered by your school or by local colleges and libraries.
- Take practice tests online or buy practice tests for use at home.
- Familiarize yourself with the sections and directions.
- Get plenty of rest the night before, and eat a good breakfast that morning.
- Remember to take No. 2 pencils and a calculator if your school doesn’t provide them.
- Do the questions you can answer easily first, then come back to the harder questions, especially in the math portion.
- Guess if you have no idea what the answer should be. Guessing doesn’t hurt your score.
KHEAA is the state agency that administers KEES, need-based grants and other programs to help students pay for college.
For more information about Kentucky scholarships and grants, visit www.kheaa.com; write KHEAA, P.O. Box 798, Frankfort, KY 40602; or call 800-928-8926, ext. 6-7214.
Dr. John Marshall, Chief Equity Officer for Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS), has been named a 2017 ‘Leader to Learn From’ by Education Week. A profile highlighting his contributions to JCPS appears in the publication’s annual special report spotlighting innovative school district leaders around the nation.
Marshall was selected by Education Week editors from a pool of hundreds of nominees submitted by readers, staff reporters and other education writers, state school administrator groups and experts in the K-12 field.
“I’m incredibly humbled and grateful to be recognized by Education Week,” Dr. Marshall said. “This recognition is really a reflection of the tremendous work undertaken by my entire department to continually promote diversity and equity in our school system, and I’m very proud to accept it on their behalf.”
He will be recognized at a special ‘Leaders to Learn From’ event at the end of March in Washington, D.C.
Education Week – founded in 1981 and published by Editorial Projects in Education, a nonprofit corporation based in Bethesda, Maryland – is the leading independent provider of news, information and analysis in K-12 education.
Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS) Superintendent Dr. Donna Hargens announced today that the District is holding a series of feedback sessions as it begins the process of updating the Student Support and Behavior Intervention Handbook for the 2017-18 school year.
Feedback Session Dates and Locations:
- Saturday, February 25, 2017, from 10 to 11:30 a.m.
- Waggener High School
- Marion C. Moore School
- Central High School
- Pleasure Ridge Park High School
- Tuesday, February 28, 2017, from 5:30 to 7 p.m.
- Waggener High School
- Marion C. Moore School
- Central High School
- Pleasure Ridge Park High School
Those wishing to provide feedback, but are unable to attend a meeting, may also do so in one of three ways:
- Feedback forms may be filled out during normal business hours at the VanHoose Education Center, 3332 Newburg Rd.
- Interested parties may download the stakeholder handbook review feedback form and email it to Assistant Superintendent Dr. Katy Zeitz.
- Feedback will also be taken by phone at (502) 485-6266.
Feedback should be submitted to the District by March 7. The data and comments will be collected and reviewed by both internal and external role groups before final recommendations are made to the Jefferson County Board of Education in late March.
