Central Kentucky education news of interest for the week of May 9

Awards/honors

▪ Allison Marcum, secretary to the principal at Bryan Station High School, has received the 2016 Wanda Luttrell Office Professional Award, a statewide recognition from the Kentucky Association of School Administrators. This annual award is named in honor of the office manager who served school administrators for 28 years.

Having been with Fayette County Public Schools for three years, Marcum is described by principal James McMillin as the “compass for the day-to-day operations” at the high school, which has more than 1,700 students and 100 staff members.

▪ As part of its third annual Spotlight Awards Ceremony on May 26, Midway University will honor community leader Isabel Yates and members of the James Bowling family, who have served on the school’s board of trustees.

Yates, a longtime public servant and former vice mayor of Lexington, will be presented with the Pinkerton Vision Award, which honors a person who has shown leadership and innovative thinking in her field while serving as a role model to others.

The university will also present its Legacy Award, which honors those who have given significant time, service and support to Midway University, to the Bowling family. Members of the family have served on Midway’s board since 1962.

This year’s ceremony will feature keynote speaker Craig King, president and CEO of R.J. Corman Railroad Group.

For more information, including how to purchase tickets, go to Midway.edu/Spotlightght or call 859-846-5300.

▪ Daniel Klapheke, a junior journalism and broadcast double major from Cynthiana, has won first place for in-depth reporting in the Society of Professional Journalists Region 5 Mark of Excellence Awards for his series on heroin addiction in a rural community.

Klapheke wrote “The Pursuit of Joy: A Battle for Faith, Hope and Integrity” while he was a 2015 Kentucky Press Association intern at The Falmouth Outlook. He is managing editor for The Eastern Progress student newspaper.

Region 5 includes universities in Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky.

As a first-place winner, Klapheke advances to the national competition. National winners will be notified in late spring and will be recognized at the Excellence in Journalism national conference Sept. 18-20 in New Orleans.

▪ Symone Purcell, an Eastern Kentucky University senior and biology major from London, is one of 30 American and European college students and graduates headed to Atlanta this summer for the 2016 Humanity in Action Program, thanks to a John Lewis Fellowship.

Lewis, who represents Georgia’s 5th District in Congress, is an icon of the civil rights movement. The month-long program offers participants the opportunity to “think anew with others about complex issues of diversity in historical and contemporary terms,” according to the program’s website, focusing, through educational seminars and site visits, on “vulnerable populations and the unfulfilled goals of just democratic societies.”

Purcell’s parents, both health-care professionals, grew up in the Caribbean country of Grenada.

▪ University of Kentucky professor Andrew Hippisley has been selected to participate in the American Council on Education’s ACE Fellows Program, a leadership development program. Hippisley, in the College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of English, is one of 33 college and university leaders chosen.

▪ Two teams at SCAPA Bluegrass Middle School have been named first-place winners in the 2015-16 Lexus Eco Challenge and will receive $15,000.

SCAPA’s Mighty Meat Minimizers encouraged community members to eat two or more meatless meals weekly to decrease carbon emissions. Its No Drive-Thru Crew suggested that people park their cars rather than drive through at restaurants to minimize the carbon dioxide emissions released while idling in the drive-through lane.

The challenge had more than 1,535 participants. Thirty-two middle- and high-school teams were selected as finalists, each claiming a $10,000 prize to be shared among the team, teacher and school.

To learn more, go to Scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=3750833.

Lexus will open the 2016-17 Eco Challenge this fall with $500,000 in prize money for eligible students, teachers and schools. Information on how to participate in the “Land and Water” and/or “Air and Climate” challenges will be available this summer at scholastic.com/lexus.

▪  Students from Winburn Middle School finished as runners-up for the state Overall Governor’s Cup Championship, a first in six years for a Fayette County middle-school academic team. The top four schools were:

1. Johnson County

2. Winburn Middle School

3. Campbell County

4. Mezeek Middle

Additionally Winburn placed second in the quick recall contest and was third in future problem solvers, junior division and fourth the the team competition of future problem solvers. Both of the later qualify for the international contest.

Among individuals, Winburn’s Nicole Wong finished third in arts and humanities and seven in composition, and Aneesh Kadambi, finished 10th in arts and humanities and in social studies.

The team is coached by T. Robyn Wilson and Dr. Sangeeta Kadambi.

▪ A pair of anglers from Lafayette High School will compete in the Kentucky High School Athletic Association’s state bass fishing tournament Friday and Saturday on Kentucky Lake near Calvert City. Riley Cobb and Landon Orr tied for fourth place among the 16 boats qualifying April 23 out of Region 2. Fishing on Lake Cumberland out of Halcomb’s Landing in Jamestown, Landon and Riley landed five bass weighing a total of 13 pounds, 12 ounces. Students from Bryan Station, Henry Clay and Tates Creek also competed.

▪ Ten artists from Fayette County Public Schools earned honors in the Kentucky Art Education Association’s 2016 all-state competition. Zoe Ruth Felice of Lafayette High School took first place in drawing for My Mouse and third in mixed media with Terrain. Henry Clay’s Cooper Boss placed first in video/film with Sparrow: A Program on Overcoming Grief. Lafayette’s Madison Kelley was first in painting with Distracted. Lafayette’s Lilly Pendley was runner-up in digital media with 3 Cross Ways.

In other state highlights:

Bryan Station’s Cavan Hendron, third in graphic design, Psycho

Bryan Station’s Jordan Long, third in sculpture, Merlin

Henry Clay’s Alexis May, third in ceramics, French Kiss

Paul Laurence Dunbar’s Terence Powell, third in fiber arts/textile, Man, Woman, and Child

Henry Clay’s Taylor Stewart, honorable mention in printmaking, Ten Tickles

Lafayette’s Miguel Gutierrez, honorable mention in digital media, A Walk in the Park

Personnel/appointments

▪ Dorie Combs, a professor in retirement transition in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at Eastern Kentucky University, has been appointed to the Learning First Alliance’s Get It Right Practitioner Think Tank.

She is among 30 U.S. education leaders selected by the alliance to address challenges to successful implementation and communication around college and career-ready standards.

Scholarship opportunities

▪ Horse Farm Workers’ Educational Assistance Fund Scholarship applications are available for children of Central Kentucky Thoroughbred Horse Farm workers.

Applicants must have graduated from high school or have a GED and be accepted by a college or technical school. Awards are made toward tuition and are based on financial need, merit, an essay and a personal interview. Parent or parents must have worked at least three years on a Central Kentucky Thoroughbred farm.

Email Mstuart727@msn.com to request an application.

This story was originally published May 10, 2016 at 8:18 AM with the headline "Central Kentucky education news of interest for the week of May 9."