Owensboro Innovation Academy director, Beth Benjamin, will be featured on KET (Kentucky Educational Television) tonight on Education Matters.
Education Matters “Innovation and Technology,” which airs Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2016, at 7 pm on KET, focuses on successful innovation and technology programs in Kentucky high schools.
In the program, guests Hal Heiner, Kentucky Education and Workforce Development Cabinet Secretary; Kentucky Commissioner of Education Stephen Pruitt; and Beth Benjamin, director of the Owensboro Innovation Academy, discuss innovative educational approaches in high schools across the state.
Benjamin was invited by KET to be included in a panel discussion on innovation at the high school level. “Both Secretary Heiner and Commissioner Pruitt have visited OIA and were impressed with the innovative things our staff and students are doing, as well as the level of engagement and interaction with our community, as we try to tie many of our projects to our community,” Benjamin said in an email to Owensboro Living. She says the focus of the discussion was centered on how the OIA model of collaboration between OPS and DCPS can be used statewide and how other districts can pull their resources together to meet the needs of students.
“We were pleased to have Owensboro Innovation Academy’s Beth Benjamin share how her school is providing an innovative and highly regarded learning environment for high school students beyond the traditional setting,” said Tonya Crum, senior director of education. “Also worth noting is the fact that OIA is a partnership between multiple school districts and exposes students to different career and postsecondary pathways through partnerships with universities and businesses in the Owensboro area.”
The program also includes a segment filmed at iLEAD Academy in Carrollton, Ky. Students from five counties—Carroll, Gallatin, Henry, Owen, and Trimble—attend this non-traditional career-focused academy that emphasizes project-based instruction in science, technology, engineering, and math.
Benjamin says she is thrilled that OIA is being recognized across the state as having students who are actively engaged in rigorous, authentic work. “I am amazed at our staff and students on a daily basis, and it means a great deal to know others are impressed as well.”
Take a peek inside OIA here.
