The Kentucky Association for Career and Technical Education recently named University of Kentucky’s Rebekah Epps the Kentucky Farm Bureau Career and Technical Postsecondary Teacher of Year.

Epps, an associate professor, is the program chair for agricultural education in the College of Agriculture, Food and Environment, and she instructs future teachers.

“I am truly honored and humbled to receive this award from my colleagues and peers,” she said. “I have worked diligently to ensure the pre-service educators graduating from UK are well-prepared for a future educating the commonwealth and beyond about the importance of agriculture.”

Epps was one of six Kentucky CTE educators honored this year at the statewide summer program in Louisville.

The Kentucky Association for Career and Technical Education, a nonprofit, professional association whose members are teachers and administrators at all levels of instruction and in all CTE teaching disciplines, administers the awards program under guidelines set by the Arlington, Virginia, based national Association for Career and Technical Education. The Kentucky Farm Bureau Federation annually sponsors the Kentucky CTE awards program. Kentucky’s honorees will compete for ACTE regional and national honors next year.

Epps is part of UK’s unique agricultural education department. It is the first undergraduate program in the nation to have students presenting research at national, peer-reviewed research conferences on a consistent basis. Research in multicultural education by faculty, graduate and undergraduate students is the first of its kind in the agricultural education profession. The program prides itself in “culture and cognition.”

Agricultural education graduates have the tools to educate others in all areas of the industry. The four-year degree program comes with certification to teach agriculture in any U.S. public school, grades 5-12, as well as the development of agriculture educators in other non-traditional roles.