(FRANKFORT, Ky.) -- Patti Rowland, a curriculum and technology integration teacher at Danville Independent's Hogsett Elementary, is the 2004 Kentucky Teacher of the Year, the Kentucky Department of Education and Ashland Inc. announced today.
Brenda Owen, a family and consumer science teacher at Morton Middle in Fayette County, is the 2004 Middle School Teacher of the Year. Jennifer Forgy, an English teacher at Paul Laurence Dunbar High in Fayette County, is the 2004 High School Teacher of the Year.
The three join 19 other teachers from across the state honored with 2004 Ashland Inc. Teacher Achievement Awards. The Middle and High School Teachers of the Year will receive $2,000 each from Ashland, Inc., and the overall Teacher of the Year will receive $10,000. The remaining 19 will receive $500 each.
Education Commissioner Gene Wilhoit will provide a sabbatical or suitable alternative to the Kentucky Teacher of the Year, beginning sometime in 2004.
Patti Rowland has 27 years of teaching experience, with five at her current position. She attended Centre College and earned bachelor's and master's degrees in elementary education from the University of Louisville. Rowland also holds a Rank I certification in library science from Eastern Kentucky University. Her professional memberships include the Central Kentucky Association of Technology Coordinators; the Danville, Oldham County, Kentucky and National Education Associations; the school-based decision making council; the International Society for Technology in Education; and the Kentucky School Media Association/Kentucky Library Association. She is the school's technology coordinator, serves on the school and district technology committee and is the student technology leadership program coordinator.
Rowland received an Excellence in Teaching Award from Campbellsville University in 2003; was named to Who's Who Among America's Teachers in 2002; and received an Ashland Inc. Golden Apple Award in 1993.
Brenda Owen has 27 years of teaching experience, with 14 at her current position. She earned a bachelor's degree, a master's degree in education and her Rank I certification from Eastern Kentucky University. She is a member of the Kentucky Association of Vocational Home Economics Teachers; the Kentucky Chapter of the American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences; the Fayette County, Kentucky and National Education Associations; the Association for Career and Technical Education; Phi Upsilon Omicron; and Phi Delta Kappa. Owen won an Excellence in Teaching Award from Campbellsville University in 2003; was named a Kentucky Colonel in 2002; was the Fayette County Middle School Teacher of the Year in 2002; and received the Impact II — The Teachers' Network Award in 1998. She also is an advisor to the Family, Career and Community Leaders of America; serves on the Fayette County Supplemental Pay Committee; is a site-based council member; and is a member of The Pew Network for Standards Based Reform.
Jennifer Forgy has 11 years of teaching experience, with two at her current position. She earned a bachelor's degree in English from Whittier College in Whittier, California, and a master's degree in secondary education with an English emphasis from Georgetown College. Forgy received her teaching certification from Eastern Kentucky University and also has completed advanced placement studies at Duke University in cooperation with the College Board. She is a member of the Kentucky and the National Councils of Teachers of English. Forgy recently was invited to attend the International Education Summit; was nominated by students as a "Top Dawg" teacher five times during 2002-2003; was named to "Who's Who Among America's Teachers" in 1996 and 2002; and was nominated as Teacher of the Year at Montgomery County High School for 1993, 1994 and 1995. She also has served as the literary studies teacher, fine arts administrator and director of community relations at the Kentucky Governor's Scholars Program from 2001 to 2003.
This is the third year that Ashland, Inc. and the Kentucky Department of Education have sponsored the Kentucky Teacher of the Year and Teacher Achievement Awards. Applications for the Teacher of the Year program were distributed across the state, and the first tier of the selection process was completed in early December, with 22 teachers selected as 2004 Ashland Inc. Teacher Achievement Award winners. Nine top scorers -- three each from the elementary, middle and high school levels -- were selected, and teams of educators visited their classrooms to view them at work. From those nine, three were selected as 2004 Kentucky Teachers of the Year.
Rowland will be Kentucky's representative in the 2004 National Teacher of the Year competition.
Since 1988, Ashland Inc. has recognized outstanding Kentucky teachers with its Teacher Achievement Awards. Nearly $450,000 has been awarded to nearly 200 teachers of grades K to 12.
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