Home » MSU alumnus Willie Carver named Kentucky Teacher of the Year

MSU alumnus Willie Carver named Kentucky Teacher of the Year

MOREHEAD, Ky. — Willie Carver Jr. (Class of 2006, 2009), French and English teacher at Montgomery County High School and a dual-credit French and English instructor through MSU’s Eagle Scholars program, was recently awarded one of the state’s highest honors in his field after being named the 2022 Kentucky Teacher of the Year.   

“It is hard to describe receiving this honor but mostly, it doesn’t feel real,” Carver said. “I see behind the scenes just how hard so many teachers work, how brilliant they are, and how much they care, so I am above all humbled.”    

The Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) and Valvoline co-sponsored the award. Carver’s selection was announced in a virtual ceremony on Sept. 9 in Lexington.   

The 2022 Teacher of the Year will receive a $10,000 cash award. Middle and Elementary School Teachers of the Year were each awarded $3,000 while the remaining 21 Valvoline Teacher Achievement Award recipients each received $500. Carver will also receive the opportunity to serve a semester-long sabbatical with KDE and represent the state in the National Teacher of the Year competition.   

Carver came to MSU from Printer in Floyd County, earned a Bachelor of Arts in English in 2006, and completed the Master of Arts in Teaching in English and French in 2009. Carver also earned a Rank 1 in French Linguistics from the University of Georgia in 2008 and completed post-graduate work in English at MSU in 2010. He previously served as an instructor of French at the University of Georgia from 2007 to 2009 and taught for two years at Raceland-Worthington Independent High School and Montgomery County High School and worked as a teacher and behavior interventionist in Burlington, Vermont.     

For more information about programs in the Ernst and Sara Lane Volgenau College of Education, call 606-783-2162, email College of Education Dean Dr. April Miller at [email protected], or visit www.moreheadstate.edu/education. 

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