The teachers selected from Owensboro Public Schools to the RISE Leadership Academy Cohort are Cary Hicks (Owensboro High School), left, Cassandra Oliver (Owensboro Middle School), Olivia Owen (Foust 4th Grade), Lindsey Alvey (District Math/Science Coordinator), and Kathleen Ayer (Foust 2nd Grade).

The teachers selected from Owensboro Public Schools to the RISE Leadership Academy Cohort are Cary Hicks (Owensboro High School), left, Cassandra Oliver (Owensboro Middle School), Olivia Owen (Foust 4th Grade), Lindsey Alvey (District Math/Science Coordinator), and Kathleen Ayer (Foust 2nd Grade).
The Kentucky Department of Education’s Office of Teaching and Learning (OTL) science consultants have selected Owensboro Public Schools for the second cohort of the RISE Leadership Academy.
OPS is one of four school districts in Kentucky selected.
The RISE Leadership Academy cultivates a collaborative network of teacher leaders who engage in ongoing, meaningful, curriculum-based professional learning (CBPL) to enhance science instruction across Kentucky. By leveraging high-quality instructional resources (HQIR) and modeling intellectual preparation, RISE empowers educators to implement three-dimensional, inquiry-based science teaching effectively.
“It is a great opportunity for us to collaborate with different individuals and different districts so that we can better implement the usage of the HQIR and the three-dimensional standards, and prepare our teachers better to be able to facilitate those lessons in class,” said Cassandra Oliver, teacher at Owensboro Middle School.
Several districts submitted applications for this cohort, and these four were selected to engage in this work alongside OTL science consultants. Each unified district science team includes four teacher leaders, one from each grade band (primary, intermediate, middle and high), working alongside the district administrator.
The other OPS teachers selected to participate in the leadership academy are Lindsey Alvey (district math/science coordinator), Kathleen Ayer (second-grade teacher, Foust Elementary), Olivia Owen (fourth-grade teacher, Foust Elementary) and Cary Hicks (Owensboro High School).
“It’s a program that not only develops us as science teachers, but also as teacher leaders,” Oliver said.
Throughout the year, this team will collaborate through structured in-person and virtual sessions focused on intellectual preparation, effective science teaching and learning strategies, and formative assessment practices. This work builds teacher leadership capacity while fostering a coherent K-12 vision for science education, ensuring alignment with the Kentucky Academic Standards (KAS) for Science.
“They were looking for districts that have adopted HQIRs because there’s been a big shift in how science is taught,” Oliver said. “It’s gone from traditional teaching to three-dimensional teaching, so it switches from teacher-led to student-led, student-driven instruction in the room, where the teacher facilitates and helps fill in learning gaps and helps them make the connections that they need to make.”
This is the second year for the cohort, which earned rave reviews during its first year. Officials say it can inspire change by shifting mindsets, implementing high-quality instructional resources and building the capacity of teacher leaders to drive lasting improvements in science education within their district.
First-year participants shared that the ongoing professional learning made a real difference for student learning and gave teachers the confidence to step out of their comfort zone and lead their colleagues through unit and lesson internalization, utilizing the KDE Intellectual Preparation guidance.
“One of our members, Cary Hicks, created a poster for how to communicate science, using district colors and district-themed, and that is now being used in all of our science classrooms,” Oliver said. “So that’s something that is helping with consistency, though it’s different for different grade bands, because they see things differently. So it’s age appropriate.
“She shared that out for us and we’re using it districtwide, elementary through high school, on how to communicate in science, and that has really opened up conversations between grade bands. So it’s not necessarily just elementary, just middle school and just high school; we’re communicating vertically also, which is going to give a more cohesive and equitable experience for all students.”
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