Barren County Schools educator named Elementary Teacher of the Year

BARREN COUNTY, Ky. – A Barren County Schools educator has just been recognized as a Teacher of the Year award winner.

The district announced Tuesday that Scott Johnson was just named Kentucky’s Elementary Teacher of the Year.

Johnson is a teacher at Red Cross Elementary School in Glasgow. Previously, Johnson was selected as a Kentucky Teacher Achievement Award winner in August.

During a ceremony in Frankfurt on Tuesday, Sept. 10, the Kentucky Department of Education is also announcing awards for middle and high school teaching divisions.

From the three finalists, one will be named the 2025 Kentucky Teacher of the Year, who will then represent Kentucky in the National Teacher of the Year competition.

KDE says all award recipients will be given cash prizes. The overall Kentucky Teacher of the Year will receive $10,000 and will be offered a six-month sabbatical with KDE during their year as an ambassador of the teaching profession.

Johnson had one message to his fellow teachers after receiving this incredible honor.

“You possess the seeds of curiosity, you sow ingenuity and you reap knowledge… and you have the power to cultivate people to go on to create great things and further our society to heights that we don’t even know yet… so I give my hearty appreciation and thank you to all of you,” he says.

He also mentioned his heroes were public school teachers growing up, and took some time to thank all his fellow teachers in the room by calling them dream makers.

A big congratulations to Mr. Johnson on this incredible achievement as the 2025 Kentucky Elementary Teacher of the Year.