By MIKE JAMES / The Independent
SUMMIT — The gathering of educators at Summit Elementary School Friday came together to applaud achievements in the Boyd County district and Northeast Kentucky.
It was an unabashed celebration and speaker after speaker — including top state and federal officials — showered accolades on Boyd schools.
Among them was Bart Teal, founder of Blue Ribbon Schools of Excellence. Summit was the first school in Northeast Kentucky to achieve the Blue Ribbon designation. “We need to find ways to use this school as a model,” Teal said.
Among Summit’s strengths, and a priority for any school, is an overall positive culture, Teal said. He called Summit’s faculty “an entire school of leaders.”
The gathering had its genesis, ironically, last spring when the recession was bottoming out. Norma Meek, the district’s curriculum event coordinator, saw educational achievement in the district as a ray of light in the midst of gloomy economic news.
“We’ve been making great strides and we needed to let people know that,” she said. Further, in a time when people are losing jobs and homes, they need to know their tax dollars are being spent wisely and effectively.
So she invited, among others, Kentucky Education Commissioner Terry Holliday, National Reading Styles Institute founder Marie Carbo, and U.S. Department of Education senior policy advisor Dennis Bega, all of whom attended. Also in attendance were superintendents from neighboring districts, business leaders and state legislators.
The event focused on Boyd schools but acknowledged a spirit of collaboration among all the districts in the region.
The visit to Boyd County illustrated a real sense of community and teachers passionate about education, Bega said. “It’s not like this everywhere.”
Dropout rates nationally remain deplorable, Bega said. Reversing the dropout rate “starts with the energy in this room.”
“What I see here is strong community involvement, commitment to teaching excellence, and parental involvement,” Bega said.
Holliday praised area school districts for outperforming larger urban and suburban districts and doing it with less money.
The words were encouragement to Summit principal Tamela Martin. “It’s the idea that we can do more with less. It’s good to know we’re not the Eastern Kentucky stereotype,” Martin said. “Schools in this part of the state are doing tremendous things.”
MIKE JAMES can be reached at mjames@dailyindependent.com or at (606) 326-2652.
