UK Next Gen could have brought in another outside keynote speaker for this year's Leadership Academy kickoff. Instead, they handed the mic to someone already doing the work: Michelle Gross 2026 Kentucky Teacher of the Year
Gross, a 7th grade math teacher at Spencer County Middle School , spoke to educators from across the state about how vibrant learning, the kind of teaching UK Next Gen actively champions and helps showcase, transformed her classroom and helped earn her the title.
The full article breaks down what that looked like in practice, including her Dream Home-A-Rama project. Watch the video below for a glimpse of her keynote, then read the story to see why UK Next Gen chose to make her the centerpiece of this year's kickoff.
Spencer County Schools
Read the full article here 👉 https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/vibrant-learning-has-exceptions-inside-ky-teacher-years-7th-nvlee
UK Center for Next Generation Leadership
We partner with schools and districts to redesign learning and sustain innovation.
The UK Center for Next Generation Leadership is a network of students, teachers, leaders, and communities committed to re-imagine the learner experience of every student.
A Hive Mind: How Clark County Schools Are Giving Back to the Community and Saving the Bees
It started with a simple question at school: What if students grew and prepared their own food? That question became a pollinator garden, and the garden became something much bigger.
East Kentucky Power Cooperative partnered with the district on the construction, working alongside students from across the district to help build the observatory. The view hive, built with windows, allows students from elementary through high school to watch bees at work, connecting their observations directly to the science curriculum while giving local pollinators a stronger place to thrive.
This is what Clark County’s Portrait of a Learner looks like in practice: a connection between a district and the community around it, working together to grow greatness. Clark County Public Schools developed its Portrait of a Learner alongside UK Next Gen, whose coaching helped inspire projects like this. It’s Vibrant Learning in action, made possible through UK Next Gen’s partnership with the district.
Watch the full video to see how it all came together.
07/27/2026
Welcome Cohort 16 to The Next Gen Leadership Academy!
Last Thursday, we kicked things off with some fantastic keynote speakers, including Michelle Gross 2026 Kentucky Teacher of the Year ! All of these educators shared what vibrant learning actually looks like in their classrooms, inspiring the cohort in front of them.
Lots of smiles, lots of new friends, and one very promising start to the year ahead. Thanks for showing up, Cohort 16. Let's do this. 👏
07/20/2026
This week, the 16th cohort of the Next Generation Leadership academy will begin.
That’s over a decade and a half of district and school teams coming together to rethink what learning looks like. Not to sit through a workshop. To build a prototype for their own school, with support from coaches and colleagues doing similar work across Kentucky and the country.
Muhlenberg County Superintendent Contessa Orr put it plainly: "It takes you from where you are and lets you identify what those next steps are."
That's the work. One team, one school, one prototype at a time.
Tag a principal or district leader who's ready to build something.
One week from today, NxGLA Cohort 16 begins!
Program Director Susan Dugle put it simply: "This gives an opportunity to really listen to the voices of the communities that we serve and the kids that we serve, and the teachers that we serve."
That's the heart of the Academy. School teams, district teams, co-ops... all coming together for time they don't usually get: time to listen, plan, and learn from one another.
Can't wait to meet this cohort!
"Do our students know what vibrant learning is?"
That's the question James Hood of Rodburn Elementary in Rowan County, started asking his team after realizing the phrase 'Vibrant Learning' without ever unpacking it.
Not because they weren't working hard. Because no one had built in the time to reflect.
NxGLA gave James's district that time, real structure to dissect what "vibrant learning" meant for their kids specifically, using instructional workdays to scaffold support and actually listen to what students were saying about what they needed.
It also gave him something else: a network of Kentucky leaders at every stage of the journey.
James's own words say it best: "This isn't just one more thing. This is the heartbeat of our school."
Cohort 16 starts in less than a month. If you're a Kentucky school or district leader ready to stop repeating the language of good practice and start building it, applications are still open.
Apply now: https://forms.gle/RyUX5UhX9agiektz9
06/23/2026
Cohort 16 of the Next Generation Leadership Academy kicks off in one month and there are still spots open!
NxGLA brings school and district teams together for a year-long design thinking experience. Teams work alongside UK Next Gen coaches to identify a real challenge in their school or district, design a solution, and prototype it. The year ends with a public celebration of learning where teams share what they built and what comes next.
Sixteen cohorts. Hundreds of educators. Districts across Kentucky still doing the work years after their Academy year ended.
If your team is ready to move from conversation to design, click here: https://forms.gle/ifXgQ9UtS6ko6vBYA
"They're excited to be able to make some choices so that the learning fits their role and their program and their school."
That is Lora Shields, ChangeMakers Program Director, describing what Kickoff Day looked like for Cohort 6!
Nervous at first. Excited by the end. Ready to spend the next year transforming their classroom on their own terms.
Interested in joining next year? Click here and we'll notify you when applications open: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdtdnWmlM6qChKXishzY6Aqs2SXH95tqtnLq_G859mEvc59ng/viewform
06/16/2026
Welcome ChangeMakers Cohort 6!
Today, dozens of Kentucky educators took the first step on their personalized pathway to rank change.
Over the next year, they will grow their practice, deepen their impact in the classroom, and earn rank change through UK Next Gen's job-embedded ChangeMakers program, supported by a Crew Chief and Co-Pilot the whole way through.
Big thanks to OVEC for welcoming our cohort and helping make today happen! We can't wait to see what these educators do!
Interested in joining us next year? Click here: https://nextgen.uky.edu/changemakers
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