By: Charles Romans
Carter County Times
Carter County Schools Superintendent Dr. Paul Green congratulated Carter County on two very successful graduation ceremonies for the 2024-2025 school year during the June meeting of the board of education. He also took time to recognize individual students for their awards.
“We have a couple of very outstanding Carter County Schools students with us today that we are super proud of and we are glad they are here,” Dr. Green said.
“The first student we would like to recognize is Landon Serat,” Green continued. “Landon is a sixth grader at East Carter Middle School. This past year he competed in Arts and Humanities in the Academic Governor’s Cup competition. He won first place in the district, with 40 out of 50 questions correct on the test. At the regional competition he got 60 out of 60 correct on the exam, and had the highest score in the state going into the state competition.”
Green said that Serat came in second place at the state competition, which was a phenomenal accomplishment as a sixth grader.
“All I can say is they will be shaking in their boots next year,” Green said. “We are honored to have him here with us tonight.”
The second student Green and the board of education recognized was a student at West Carter High School.
“She has been working with Mr. Blankenship’s Future Problem Solvers, and they went to an International Problem Solvers Competition,” Green said. “During that competition, Lily Gilbert was given the E. Paul Torrance Beyonder Award.”
“The International Competition Dr. Green mentioned was the FPSPI (Future Problem Solving Program International),” team adviser Chris Blankenship told the board.
Future Problem Solvers engage students in creative problem-solving, encouraging them to develop a vision for the future and address potential challenges. They learn a structured six-step process to identify problems, brainstorm solutions, evaluate options, and develop action plans for addressing complex issues.
“Lily won first in Senior Division in individual and state,” Blankenship said.
Gilbert won the E. Paul Torrance Beyonder Award for her FAST project, which involves fire awareness, safety, and tactics. The project covered four key points which were preventing fires, preventing the spread of fires, recruiting volunteer firefighters, and the future of firefighting. Gilbert, a junior firefighter herself, gathered information from Carter and Boyd Counties to perfect her project. She said she hopes to inspire a future generation of junior firefighters to protect their communities.
The board also heard the instructional update for Carter County Schools. In curriculum and professional development, OHES teacher Miranda Salyers was selected through Kentucky Mathematics Achievement Fund Grant to have her instructional video featured through KCM. Salyers gave credit to OHES math coach Karen Rose for supporting her throughout the year in mathematics instruction.
Site based decision making (SBDM) training for new and experienced members was reported as being available to them online. The training is required for all new members, and the online training model is more readily available and convenient. In class training was held on June 2 and June 3. Boost books also became available, and over 100 books were given out at preschool registration.
Contact the writer at charles@cartercountytimes.com
Lily Gilbert – E. Paul Torrance Beyonder Award. (Photo by Charles Romans, Carter County Times)
