Flanked by more than a dozen legislators and retired teachers, Gov. Steve Beshear ceremonially signed a bill on Monday (Oct. 20) to honor retired teachers in Kentucky.
House Joint Resolution 19, sponsored by Rep. Rick Nelson, of Middlesboro, declares the state’s support for its tens of thousands of retired teachers, and names the third week of October as “Kentucky Retired Teachers’ Appreciation Week” in Kentucky.
“I’m married to a former teacher, so I understand that once you’re a teacher, you’re always a teacher, even if you’ve retired,” said Gov. Beshear. “We are fortunate that our retired teachers continue to support our communities through volunteer work and mentoring new educators. We thank these teachers for their years of work in our classrooms and in our communities.”
“I appreciate our retired teachers for making our communities a better place, and even though they’re retired, they still do just that on a regular basis,” said Rep. Nelson. “This resolution honors them for their years they have devoted to educating Kentuckians all over this great Commonwealth.”
The Kentucky Retired Teachers Association (KRTA) estimates that there are about 43,000 retired teachers in Kentucky. If each teacher worked in a school 27 years, that’s more than a million classroom years’ experience.
Retired teachers provided more than 964,000 volunteer hours in their communities last year, including collecting 28,000 items for local food banks and 5,600 bags of school supplies.
Story provided by Governor Steve Beshear's Communications Office
