A local teacher has been selected to be a non-voting member of the state’s board of education — one with Hopkinsville and Christian County ties.
Revealed Tuesday by officials from the Kentucky Department of Education, Alissa Riley is a 9th-12th grade leader at Gateway Academy to Innovation and Technology. She will serve a one-year term.
A 15-year teaching veteran, she was selected from eight applicants within the 1st Congressional District, and was recommended by the KBE Application Review Special Committee for 2023-24. She fills the seat soon to be vacated by Garrard County teacher Joanna Stevens.
In a written statement to the KBE, Riley said she knew from a “very young age” that she wanted to be a teacher, and that she never wanted to be in any other field or pursue any other career.
She said that when people talk about their dream jobs, she can “proudly say” that she’s living her dream.
Riley received her bachelor’s degree in elementary education in 2007 from Western Kentucky University, then went on to serve as a primary grade teacher for the first 13 years of her career.
In 2016, she earned her master’s degree in teacher leadership, with an endorsement in WKU’s elementary math specialist program.
Riley went on to note that making a difference in Kentucky is important. She knows she could sit in her “little corner of Christian County and advocate locally,” but that she wants to work on a much larger scale.
She taught kindergarten for eight years, and wants to focus on teacher recruitment and retention, improved career readiness, technical education programs, and fully-funded preschool for the Commonwealth.
The KBE has 15 members: 11 voting members and four non-voting members.