Mr. Kevin Dailey honored as 2024 Ky. Teacher of the Year

FRANKFORT, Ky. (WTVQ) — The Kentucky Teacher of the Year was announced at the Capitol on Wednesday morning.

Commissioner Dr. Jason Glass joined Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman in celebrating the teachers nominated for this award.

Over 1,300 out of 40,000 teachers were nominated for Kentucky Teacher of the Year, with a total of 22 finalists…

And the winner, Kevin Dailey from Ballyshannon Middle School is the 2024 Kentucky Teacher of the Year.

He received a $10,000 cash prize and an ambassadorship.

Dailey says this day is about the students and he’s thankful for the support from both his family and fellow educators.

“Just being in our Capitol building in this rotunda has just been an honor. We were all sitting, all the teachers were sitting down at the beginning of this and we were talking about how it’s so wonderful that at least for one day a year, teachers are treated like the celebrities they should be; teachers are treated like the most important people in the room, and it’s just incredible to be a part of it,” Dailey said.

Donnie Wilkerson from Jamestown Elementary School and Kumar Rashad from Breckenridge Metropolitan High School were the other two finalists.

Today was full of happy tears, laughs and hugs as educators, state leaders and friends and family celebrated their favorite teachers.

Nominations for 2025 Kentucky Teacher of the Year open Nov. 1 if you would like to nominate someone for next year.