Local teachers selected as Go Teach Kentucky ambassadors

The Kentucky Department of Education have named several western Kentucky teachers to their new class of ambassadors for the GoTeachKY initiative.

Among the 21 selected statewide include:

Dylan Howard, Paducah Middle School
Laura Pratt, Paducah Head Start
Bridget Powell, Marshall County Central Elementary
Heather Carden, Hopkinsville Freedom Elementary

They're now on a mission to recruit the next generation of teachers in the Commonwealth, helping to remedy the critical teacher shortage.

In February, Frankfort’s House Education Committee met to discuss problems surrounding the state’s teacher shortage. Former state Education Commissioner Dr. Jason Glass told the committee that Kentucky’s teacher turnover rate eclipsed 20% in 2021. It was an all-time high, and the state has remained above the national benchmark of 15%-16% turnover for the last handful of years.

The ambassadors were selected from a pool of applicants who answered the call for educators interested in supporting the initiative and helping promote the teaching profession.

Ambassadors have to hold, or have held, a teaching position in a Kentucky public school, while owning at least four years of experience as a teacher, principal or other certified school staff member.




(AP file photo)