Teacher Award
Has your child had a teacher who is so amazing you'd like to do more than say thanks? Here's your chance. Nominations are now open for the 2007 Kentucky Teacher Awards, sponsored by the Kentucky Department of Education and Ashland Inc.
Nomination forms can be found by visiting the Kentucky Department of Education's Web site at http://www.education.ky.gov and typing in "Teacher of the Year" in the search bar, or by visiting Ashland's Web site at http://www.ashland.com and clicking on the education link within the communities section.
Any full-time public school teacher in the state with at least three years of experience is eligible. Students, parents, teachers, principals, superintendents or anyone from the community who has an interest in honoring an outstanding educator may nominate someone. The deadline for nominations is May 1.
For more details, see the Web sites.
Zip To Financial Aid
Kentucky students and parents now have three unique features to help them learn about and apply for student financial aid. These new features -- Zip Access, Zip Decision and Zip Answer – can all be found at www.kheaa.com, the Web site of the Kentucky Higher Education Assistance Authority (KHEAA).
Through Zip Access, students can check their Kentucky Educational Excellence Scholarship (KEES) awards earned during high school; apply for the Robert C. Byrd Honors Scholarship, KHEAA Teacher Scholarship and Early Childhood Development Scholarship; and check the status of federal student loans guaranteed by KHEAA.
Zip Decision is a helpful online resource for parents interested in a Federal PLUS Loan to help pay for a student's education. Using Zip Decision, parents can get immediate pre-approval for a loan originated through KHEAA. The credit decision is valid for 120 days.
Zip Answer provides answers to questions about state and federal student aid. Users may choose a topic or type in a word or phrase in a search box. By choosing KEES as a topic, ZIP Answer will bring up 36 of the most commonly asked questions and answers about KEES.
To access Zip Access, Zip Decision and Zip Answer, visit www.kheaa.com.
Underage Drinking Meetings
A series of town hall meetings on the topic of underage drinking are being held across Kentucky. First Lady Glenna Fletcher along with the Office of Drug Control Policy, Kentucky State Police and the Office of Alcohol Beverage Control recently announced a statewide campaign against underage drinking. The meetings began in March, but several are being held during April and later in the year. These gatherings are an opportunity to educate parents, teachers, officials, youth and other community members about the impact of underage drinking.
For more information, see the news release on the meetings. For a listing of the meetings and dates, click here.
Reminders:
- The Kentucky Department of Education is seeking input from parents and educators to help improve and clarify Kentucky's Program of Studies. The Program of Studies is what is taught across the state and helps ensure that all students across the commonwealth are provided with common content and have opportunities to learn at a high level.
These curriculum documents are periodically updated to ensure that Kentucky's current standards are aligned and consistent with national and international standards for content knowledge. Please take a few minutes to review the proposed revisions for your grade and/or subject area of interest, and to share your thoughts with us. Go to the main KDE Web site at http://www.education.ky.gov and click on the Program of Studies Survey item. Thanks for your help!
- Please remember that the Commonwealth Accountability Testing System assessments for Kentucky public schools will be conducted during April 17-28, 2006. These tests are used to measure the progress by students and schools and will be used to help make decisions about student learning. Make sure your child is prepared – for a list of tips on ways to prepare your child, see the March 15 issue of ParentInfo.