Kentucky PTA names KEA members Barnett, Kuhn its classified, certified school employees of the year for 2010

8/20/2010

Abbey Kuhn, a fourth grade teacher at Kenton Elementary School, is the Kentucky PTA’s 2010 Certified Educator of the Year and Donnie Barnett, Kenton’s Building Operations Supervisor, is its 2010 Classified Personnel of the Year.
 

Barnett was honored for his 18 years of dedication to the school and its students. Kuhn’s award was for the community garden she started during her internship three years ago. Students in grades 1, 2 and 4 plant and tend the garden each year. Kuhn donates the fruit and vegetables they grow to Action Ministries in nearby Latonia, Kentucky, and other organizations that distribute food to the needy.
 

The Kentucky Enquirer reported in July that Kenton Elementary students donated more than 100 pounds of food from their garden to Action Ministries during the 2009-2010 school year

Barnett, who has worked at Kenton Elementary for 18 of his 22 years with the Kenton County Public Schools, is a beloved figure among the school’s 600 students. He knows them all by name and buys ice cream for each one on his or her birthday.
 

He told the Enquirer, “My wife and I were never able to have children, but we came to the realization that the students are kind of our kids. For seven hours a day for nine months out of the year, I’ve got kids.”