July 30, 2024
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Lisa McKinney
lisa@prichardcommittee.org
(cell) 859-475-7202
Kentucky schools find innovative ways to prepare students for evolving economy
LEXINGTON, Ky --The Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence today released a series of stories spotlighting schools across Kentucky using innovative strategies to teach durable skills—such as communication, teamwork and collaboration—in their classrooms. These stories highlight a larger effort in the commonwealth to ensure that schools are preparing students to succeed in the workforce and meet the evolving needs of employers.
“It is important to elevate the work Kentucky educators are doing to make sure students are gaining the skills they need to pursue their dreams and live a big, bold life,” said Prichard Committee President/CEO Brigitte Blom. “We must make certain that high school diplomas are meaningful and relevant to the world we live in. I hope these stories serve as an example of what can be achieved when educators, the business community and families come together to design programs and curricula that set students up for success.”
The stories highlight seven counties: Allen, Boone, Carter, Floyd, Rowan, Shelby and Warren.
Among the examples of students across Kentucky working toward more meaningful diplomas are the fourth graders of McBrayer Elementary in Rowan County. These students are making their mark on the rich tradition of storytelling in Appalachia, while developing both durable and technical skills, by sharing what it is like to be a kid in Eastern Kentucky today through their Adventures of Fourth Grade podcast. The students take turns writing, producing and presenting the monthly podcast, with a little help from the districts’ digital learning coach. Through the process, the students are learning research skills, collaboration, media literacy, technology and storytelling—all while sending a finished project out into the world.
Project-based learning, which teaches real-world skills by doing, is being integrated into more and more Kentucky schools alongside traditional classroom instruction. This approach is part of a larger effort to make students’ experiences in school more relevant to the life and work skills they will need upon graduation.
Project-based learning has also provided an opportunity for community members to become more engaged in the schools by providing projects, guidance and feedback.
“I think a benefit of having community involvement is that the community is becoming aware of the deeper learning kinds of experiences that we are working on to give our students,” said Prichard Committee Member Edna Schack, who acts as a community liaison for Rowan County Schools. “It's not the school that I went to, and it's not the school that my kids went to 15, 20 years ago. It's important that the community see that students are learning, not just from paper and pencil, not just at the computer screen, but they're learning from their experiences and some of those experiences are happening in the community.”
The spotlight stories and accompanying videos are available on the Prichard Committee website.
