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Kentucky Farm Bureau
Ø individuals who have made extraordinary contributions to the field; Ø programs that exemplify the highest standards; and Ø organizations that have conducted activities to promote and expand Career and Technical Education programs. KACTE conducts the awards program, which is organized under the guidelines established by ACTE. There are 12 award categories, each with various criteria and eligibility requirements. KACTE members and individual program areas are encouraged to participate each year by submitting nominations to the KACTE Awards Committee chair. The Awards Committee reviews the nominees and selects the winners. Information on the awards, the criteria and the nominations process may be viewed on-line at the KACTE website, www.kacteonline.org. KACTE award winners are entered into the appropriate ACTE national award category for the following administrative year. In recent years, several KACTE members have been recognized nationally, including:Ø 2007 ACTE National Teacher-of-the-Year Leslie Watkins, Family and Consumer Sciences teacher, Reidland High School; Ø 2004-2005 KACTE President Sarah Raikes, Family and Consumer Sciences teacher, Washington County High School, who was the first recipient of the Outstanding Teacher in Community Service Award; Ø Donnalie Stratton, program consultant, Kentucky Department of Education Division of Career and Technical Education, who received the Carl D. Perkins Humanitarian Award, one of the highest honors bestowed by ACTE; Ø Sandra Miller, Ph.D., professor emeritus, University of Kentucky, who received an ACTE Outstanding Service Award. THIS YEAR, KACTE presents two state winners – Outstanding Career and Technical Educator and Outstanding Teacher in Community Service. KACTE expresses its sincere thanks to the Kentucky Farm Bureau Federation whose support makes these awards possible.
Outstanding Career and Technical Educator
Dr. Davis currently is a full professor in the College of Business and Technology, Eastern Kentucky University. Dr. Davis earned her bachelor’s degree in business education from Georgetown College. She also earned a master’s degree in secondary education from Georgetown. Finally, she earned her doctorate in vocational business education from the University of Kentucky. Students refer to Dr. Davis as a challenging and stimulating educator. Student respect and gratitude directed toward her, Dr. Davis’s numerous contributions to CTE generally, and finally, her specific commitment to business education are all compelling reasons for Dr. Davis’s selection as the recipient of this award. Dr. Davis has made significant contributions to CTE during her career. Most recently she accepted the role of Tech Prep Coordinator for a consortium of 22 high schools and technology centers, assisting other consortia in the state with the 2006 transition from secondary fiscal agency to postsecondary oversight and coordination of most consortia in Kentucky. She continues to provide able leadership within her consortium and across the state with respect to financial management, project oversight, and component implementation. She serves on the Kentucky Tech Prep Advisory Committee. Dr. Davis has held a variety of leadership roles that affecting CTE in the state. She has served as department chair for the Office Administration Department in the College of Business and Technology, Eastern Kentucky University. She led the department through major curriculum changes and a faculty reorganization that resulted in stronger program implementation and improved classroom instruction for business students at the university. As department chair of Administrative Communication and Services, also in the College of Business and Technology, she strengthened the department while she simultaneously assisting the Kentucky Department of Education in the development of the state’s Perkins funding plan. Her ability to handle multiple responsibilities and successfully accomplish her goals with respect to each of them is one of her strengths. Dr. Davis served her university by accepting the post of Interim Dean of the College of Business and Technology, a post she held from July 1993-August 1994. In this role, she administered all of the college’s programs and faculty, networked college constituents for effective fundraising, and oversaw the day-to-day operations of the college. While she has held additional administrative positions and has continued to work with undergraduate prospective teachers and graduate in-service teachers, the positions above demonstrate her willingness to serve and her capacity for leadership. Dr. Davis has deepened her contributions to the field of CTE by being a frequent presenter at state, regional, and national conferences and by publishing widely in the field. She has presented at the High Schools That Work Annual Staff Development Conference, a national forum affecting the delivery of CTE throughout the United States. In presentations, she focused on the teacher educator’s role in developing integrated academic and technical content for delivery in secondary schools. She also presents at state CTE conferences on instructional strategies that result in active learning and student engagement. She continues to present and provide leadership to prospective and practicing CTE teachers on the use of instructional technology. Dr. Davis has had a significant impact on CTE with her efforts to develop a training academy for new teachers in their first three years of teaching. She developed a potential curriculum (instructional strategies, classroom management, assessment, etc.), developed an implementation structure for the academy, and became part of the faculty of the New Teacher Institute for Career and Technical Instructors. She also wrote and submitted a successful grant proposal that helped with the implementing the first such teacher academy in Kentucky. Dr. Davis’s professional affiliations and activities are diverse and numerous, but most focus on the continuous improvement of CTE. For example, she has served for the past four years on the Kentucky Business Education Taskforce and the Kentucky Business Education State Board. She has served as the teacher educator on technical program assessment committees for the Office of Career and Technical Education. As the chair of the assessment team, she guides the process and oversees a committee’s suggestions for program improvement in area technology centers. She served as Business Education Vice President of KACTE from 2005-2007. She has been a member of the National Tech Prep Network for 17 years. She has served as the business specialist on accrediting visits with the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS), yet another way she has worked to improve CTE. She is a Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) judge for regional and state competitions and has been the able president of KBEA, the Kentucky Business Education Association. Dr. Davis also finds time in her schedule to serve as the sponsor/advisor (since 1996) of Delta Phi Epsilon, Nu Chapter. This brief description of her affiliations and activities depicts only highlights of Dr. Davis’s prolific, committed career in Business Teacher Education. Dr. Davis has contributed to CTE in Kentucky and in the broader, national arena through: Ø excellent teaching of potential and practicing CTE teachers, Ø assumption of administrative roles and duties, Ø presentations and publications, Ø service as a Tech Prep consortium coordinator, Ø preparation of state Perkins plans, Ø service on K-TIP committees, Ø service to professional organizations, and Ø service on program assessment committees. Respected for her strong work ethic, loyalty to her peers and her university, and her expertise with CTE, Dr. Davis is unconditionally supported by her colleagues, administrators, and students as the state recipient of this award. She serves as a role model for prospective teachers. One student said she uses “every aspect of life to offer teachable moments” in all she does. These are some of the many reasons why Dr. Rita Davis is the 2007 KACTE Outstanding Career and Technical Educator.
Outstanding Teacher in Community Service Award
CheyAnne Fant has impressed on her students that “learning while serving” builds and strengthens character, helps classroom theory make sense, and fulfills students’ need to make a difference in the world in which they live. CheyAnne Fant is a Family and Consumer Sciences teacher at Barren County High School, and her students definitely learn while they serve. Mrs. Fant and her students developed their first service learning project in partnership with Barren County foster care services. Students created and sold jars of cookie mix to raise money for foster children in their community. They also sought donations from local businesses. Product donations were raffled off while monetary donations went to the children. Over the five-year history of this service project, students have raised more than $15,000 and given gifts of clothing and toys to hundreds of Barren County foster children. While this is one project in a long list of service opportunities in which Ms. Fant’s students participate, its success is critical because this project generated a desire in students to participate in further community service and service learning opportunities. With students excited and committed to service, the resulting projects become more student-owned and student-managed. The deeper the student involvement, the more learning takes place. Ms. Fant states service learning research indicates students who participate in such projects show increased civic engagements, greater acceptance of diversity, improved self esteem, more protection against risky behavior, and higher academic achievement. In working with her students to connect classroom learning and service opportunities, Ms. Fant has a transforming effect on them. CheyAnne Fant and her students have earned public recognition for service to Barren County’s foster children. WBKO-TV recognized the students and their teacher as Hometown Heroes. In addition, Mrs. Fant has received the 2006 NATFACS New Professional Award and was named Barren County High School Teacher of the Year in 2004. She was awarded the 2004 Campbellsville University Excellence in Teaching Award. Finally, she received the University of Kentucky Teacher Who Made a Difference Award in 2004. Whether Ms. Fant is being of service herself through her own civic and church affiliations or instilling an ethic of service in her students, she truly believes in her classroom motto: learning while serving. Another class project is FITT (Fitness Integration for Teens and Teachers), a program designed to raise community awareness of youth obesity. Family and Consumer Science students worked with students from business, chemistry, and physical education to create a public awareness campaign that aired on a local cable television station, produced and provided healthy snack alternatives, and created and distributed a fitness DVD and Dynabands. The students also offered fitness tests to all Barren County High School students. Other projects include catering for civic and community events, Habitat for Humanity, and Adopt-a-Highway. Ms. Fant is actively involved in the local FCCLA chapter and has been instrumental in increasing the involvement of her FCCLA chapter in the community. Because of her guidance, the members of FCCLA now participate in a Heart Walk, Relay for Life, and Unite to Read. A current student of Ms. Fant hoped she would receive this award because of “all she does for the students and the community in which the students and the teacher live and work.” This student is an aspiring Family and Consumer Sciences teacher, and she “hopes to make a difference in the lives of students just like Ms. Fant does.” Congratulations to CheyAnne Fant, KACTE 2007 Outstanding Teacher in Community Service.
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Contact us at web@kacteonline.org
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This
prestigious award recognizes a career and technical educator who makes
significant contributions to professional organizations and Career and Technical
Education (CTE) programs for youth and/or adults in their fields, communities,
and/or states. The individual receiving this award must be a currently employed
baccalaureate CTE teacher educator, administrator, guidance counselor, or
program specialist and must have been an active member of KACTE for the past
five consecutive years. Congratulations to Dr. Rita Davis, Outstanding Career
and Technical Educator for 2007.
The
Outstanding Teacher in Community Service Award is designed to recognize teachers
with significant accomplishments and outstanding leadership in programs and
activities that promote community involvement. Recipients of this award must
have made significant contributions toward training, motivating, and inspiring
their peers and students to become involved in programs and projects that
benefit their communities.