EAST Region

Elementary School

Highland Turner Elementary (Breathitt County)
10355 HWY 30 West
Booneville, KY 41314
606/295-3721
Contact:  Debra Johnson

The outdoor classroom area at Highland Turner Elementary in Breathitt County began as way to improve the math and science test scores.  The outdoor area has grown to include 2 outdoor classroom shelters with electricity, a greenhouse, 3 nature trails completed with tree identification signs and benches.  A bird sanctuary, wetland area, native plants and herb gardens are also included on campus.  The students maintain the animal habitats.   Local partners include agencies such as the University of Kentucky Wood Center and Forestry department to learn more about trees and how to identify them.  Teachers also conduct Project Wild and Project Learning Tree activities.  The PRIDE Club students participate in local cleanup activities and oversee the recycling program.

Middle School

Paintsville Middle School (Johnson County)
225 Second St.
Paintsville, KY 41240
606-789-2656
Contact: Hans Doderer

Nestled in the middle of downtown Paintsville, Paintsville Middle School have very limited space for outdoor environmental activities.  However, they have utilized the space they have to construct an outdoor classroom shelter, greenhouse, tool shed and rain garden.  They have an active PRIDE Club that has adopted Tiger Island located on Paintsville Lake.  The students travel by boat to the island twice a year to conduct cleanup activities, water testing and animal habitat studies.  This gives the students exposure to different types of ecosystems and habitats that are located around their downtown school.  (Please note:  They are doing construction at the school, so filming may be limited.  You may also need to work with Hans to get some photos to add to the video).

High School

Owsley Co. High School
HWY 28 Shepherd Lane
Booneville, KY 41314
606/593-5185
Contact: Eugena Gabbard

In October of 2008 the Owsley Co. High School’s PRIDE Club won the Project of the Month for a community service project that added a new attraction to the area’s natural beauty.  They constructed a quilt square that was placed on the high school’s farm. The quilt block project ties PRIDE and local tourism together.  A greenhouse was also constructed.  The FFA built the worktables for the court yard and constructed birdhouses.  The PRIDE Club members painted and displayed the birdhouses. Club members planted native plants and herbs in the court yard. The PRIDE Club decided to research some energy conservation ideas for the high school because of the school’s large electric bill in the winter. They made an Energy Conservation brochure that included energy saving tips.  They also discovered how much energy was being used by the computers being left on.  The students found that a large amount of electricity as well as money could be saved by just turning off all the computers at the end of the school day.

Teacher of the Year – East Region

Regina Donour
Letcher County Central High School
435 Cougar Drive
Whitesburg, KY 41858
606/633-2339
Contact:  Regina Donour

Ms. Donour has been teaching for total of 11 years.  She is currently a Biology and Chemistry teacher at Letcher County Central High School.   While at Letcher County Central, she has written PRIDE grants to secure funds to construct a wetland, greenhouse and outdoor learning area complete with a solar panels. She lead Letcher County Central to PRIDE Campus of the Year Winner in 2006.  She is very active in the Kentucky Water Watch Program.   As a recipient of a German/American Fulbright scholarship, she traveled to Potsdam, Germany, over the summer.   Her professional affiliations include the Appalachian Math and Science Partnership, National Energy Education Development, and the Kentucky and National Science Teachers associations.

West Region

Elementary School

Manchester Elementary
1908 N. HWY 421
Manchester, KY 40962
606/598-3444
Contact:  Joyce Ohler, Sally Sizemore

Manchester Elementary in Clay County has added a tracking station, a new rain garden and additional animal habitats.  They have an active PRIDE Club that is broken down into 5 committees that oversee different areas of the campus.  The tracking station committe and poster committee check the tracking station weekly and journals the tracks that are found. The poster committee will then research the different types of wild animals in KY and make posters about the animals.  The bird, squirrel and wildlife committee check the bluebird activity weekly and keep all the feeders filled.  The garbage committee conducts biweekly campus cleanup activities.  The recycling committee collects and sorts the recycling items once a week.  The banner committee put up spring cleanup banners and posters around the city and campus to promote the 2009 PRIDE Spring Cleanup.   They also maintain a greenhouse, vegetable garden and conduct wetland studies.  They participate in campus and roadside cleanup activities. They also recycle aluminum cans, old cell phones, and ink cartridges.  They have community members come in as guest speakers and they conduct community service projects.

Middle School

Corbin Middle School
706 S. KY Avenue
Corbin, KY 40701
606/523-3619
Contact:  Melissa Evans

Corbin Middle School in Whitley County conducted a Styrofoam Busters Project to encourage the school district to change all styrofoam trays to reusable plastic trays and silverware. The students researched the district wide cost of using disposable items and compared it to the cost of paying cafeteria employees an additional hour a day to wash all the trays.  They also researched the negative effects of styrofoam on our environment.  They presented the PowerPoint to the student council, Cafeteria Manager and the District Cafeteria Director. They also have a greenhouse, an outdoor classroom, a recycling program, and a wetland area and adopted a city park.  They have created and maintained bird and bat habitats on campus and in the park (adjacent to campus).  The PRIDE Club mentors elementary students with environmental lessons and a puppet show.  They participated in Project Clean Streams and area PRIDE Clean-up Events.  They developed and recorded Public Service Announcements that were played on a local radio station for PRIDE’s Laurel Lake Cleanup.  Campus of the Year Winner 2007.

High Schools

South Laurel High School
201 S. Laurel Rd.
London, KY 40741
606/862-4727
Contact: Carrie Kirby

South Laurel High School’s PRIDE Club has been actively involved in a Service Learning Project.  They have been teaching elementary students more about science by preparing and presenting lessons at 4 elementary schools in Laurel County. Some of the lesson topics were magnets and electricity, rocks and minerals, life cycle of plants and animals and the water cycle.  All the science lessons were aligned to teachers curriculum maps. The elementary school teachers evaluated each lesson.  They also completed a service learning journal each week to reflect on their personal success and areas of improvement.      The students have also conducted a M.A.D. Science Saturday, judged Cold Hill’s Science Fair, participated in CATS REVIEW Day and were involved in teaching the elderly at Laurel Village.

Teacher of the year – West Region

Cindy Ham
Somerset High School
301 College Street
Somerset, KY 42501
606/678-4721
Contact:  Cindy Ham
Principal: Mark Murray

Ms. Ham started the outdoor environmental education program at Rockcastle County High, when she first started teaching.  She then moved to Meece Middle School in Somerset, where she started the E-TEAM PRIDE Club.  The club constructed an outdoor classroom area and begin water testing and school wide recycling.  She led Meece Middle School to win PRIDE Campus of the Year in  2004.  She also lead Meece Middle School to win the National Junior Level for the NEED Youth Awards in 2004.  She then carried the E-Team on to Somerset High School and also started a school wide recycling program. While at Somerset High, they won the National Senior Level Rookie of the Year Award for NEED Youth Awards in 2007. Ms. Ham also started the “Adopt a Dock” on Lake Cumberland’s Omega Boat Dock.  She works with her E-Team members to mentor to younger students through Earth Day Activities and participating in Hopkins Elementary School’s “Unite to Read Night”.  They trained teachers of the younger grades in using KY Dept. of Fish & Wildlife’s Aquatic Wild cards to take back to use with their students.   She also oversees the PRIDE Grants for the elementary, middle and high school.  Her professional affiliations include National Science Teacher Association and National Energy Education Development.