LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Westport Middle School teacher Laura Peavley has been named Kentucky's 2021 middle school teacher of the year during a virtual ceremony Thursday.
Peavley, who teaches math and was among three teachers up for the honor, won $3,000 from Valvoline for the award.
While she was a finalist to be the 2021 Kentucky Teacher of the Year, that honor went to Donnie Piercey of Stonewall Elementary in Fayette County.
Piercey, who was also named the state's top elementary school teacher for 2021, will receive a professional development opportunity through the Kentucky Department of Education and represent the state at the national competition.
"On paper she's an eighth-grade math teacher, but this educator sees her classroom and the material she teaches as a way to build the next generation of scholars and citizens," Kentucky Education Commissioner Jason Glass said, adding that she and her husband moved from Oldham County to west Louisville to "better understand what her students are experiencing on a daily basis."
"She believes that by creating a relationship with her students and establishing a foundation of trust, the math comes easy."
Laura Peavley
Peavley was "floored" by her win, she said.
"This is absolutely phenomenal, and I'm just at a loss," Peavley said. "Thank you so much for just supporting teachers and just for all that you do. All I do every day is just love the kids, and I think that that goes way further than we can ever realize."
She told KDE in a profile that she and her husband decided to move to Portland so she could be closer to and more available for many of Westport Middle's students. Of the 1,346 students enrolled at Westport Middle in the 2019-20 school year, 13.4% lived in the Portland zip code, JCPS data show.
When a shooting happened four blocks from her home earlier in the school year, Peavley later learned that one of her students, who was behind in class, lived at the location.
"Here are our students who are still trying to balance all of this, but yet they are being woken up by gunfire and then sirens and all this craziness outside their door and that’s why they’re sleeping in and missing a class,” Peavley said in the piece.
“We have to be aware of this and empathetic towards it so we can truly understand where they’re coming from, because it isn’t always their fault."
Peavley was among 24 teachers who were received achievement awards based on scores from a panel of experienced educators.
The nine semifinalists also had to undergo a classroom lesson review and interview as part of the scoring process.
Copyright 2020 WDRB Media. All rights reserved.
