APPALACHIAN RENAISSANCE INTIATIVE'S FINDING INNOVATION IN RURAL EDUCATION SUMMIT On April 12th, the East Kentucky Expo Center will again be booming with the regions most innovative leaders and learners. Not to mention robots, flight simulators, student art & performance, cutting-edge strategies and technologies, student built...

The second It’s Good to be Young in the Mountains conference is coming to Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College Cumberland campus on April 21-23, 2017. The conference is a three-day event celebrating Appalachian heritage and giving space...

Through a series of assignments, Rebecca Potter's communications class (members of the Kentucky Valley Educational Cooperative's FIREshare) has been working to develop their photography skills by telling stories about their communities through the lens. Below are highlights and links to...

Schools are epicenters of the movement toward healthier bodies and minds, as students grow to value their own health and lead their families and communities to a better quality of life. This was the theme of the Kentucky Valley...

Pikeville Elementary teacher, Traci Tackett, tells us how her and her students use winter gardens to not only improve their diets, but to also improve their community.   For more information on gardening in schools check out the School Garden Holler. 

Rural communities miss great opportunities when their leaders and citizens do not dream big enough. One of our problems in not making “Appalachian Kentucky Great Again” has been thinking too small and scaling down our dreams and expectations. Congressman Hal...

Letcher County Central student, Hannah Adams, had a recorded essay released this weekend about the complications of letting politics divide our smaller communities.  Her article aired today (January 23, 2017) on National Public Radio's (NPR) popular show Here &...

You don't have to study abroad to learn to talk about food, weather, and your school life in Spanish! These world language learners in Floyd, Harlan, and Knott Counties are bringing relevant and accessible Spanish lessons to your screen...

Every Friday this January, local filmmaker Oakley Fugate, will be hosting a Film Workshop at the Boone Youth Drop-In Center in Whitesburg, KY. He will be teaching the basics of how to produce a low budget film. Fugate says he was inspired to host...

When Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear appointed Harlan County native George Ella Lyon as 2015-2016 Kentucky Poet Laureate mountain people across the state celebrated, especially those from her home community on the far southeastern border. She proceeded another revered Appalachian, or...

The Kentucky Valley Educational Cooperative  cordially invites you and your organization for a catered Press Luncheon on January 27th, 2017 at 11 am. This is an event to celebrate the work of our regional schools, educators, and students. We also want to thank you, the...

Appalshop, Inc. in Whitesburg and Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College have developed two Accelerated Certificates to meet the current needs of local employers.  They are now accepting applications until January 5th to go through the new collaborative technology training program, called...

We've had a big year at Kentucky Valley Educational Cooperative (KVEC) and here at the Holler! Congressionally designated Digital Promise and the U.S. Department of Education named KVEC a National Education Innovation Cluster, presenting a video series spotlighting the Appalachian Renaissance Initiative. Our annual Summits in...

"We believe our schools are epicenters of the movement toward healthier bodies and minds, as our students grow to value their own health and lead their families and communities to a better quality of life." -Sandy Hogg Kentucky Valley Educational...

The Challenger Learning Center of Kentucky (CLCKY) is one in a network of 47 Challenger Learning Centers which were started by the families of the Challenger Astronauts tragically killed in the 1986 Space Shuttle disaster. Housed on the campus...

It's the Saturday morning after Thanksgiving and Letcher Elementary Teacher, Tyler Watts, is busy sticking colorful Post-It notes to the window in the Harry M. Caudill Library in Downtown Whitesburg.  While most people are enjoying their holiday break by...

Nationally fewer schools teach computer science than 10 years ago, but not here in the mountains. Imagine an east Kentucky where every student understands basic coding and computer science.  What would this mean for our region? We know that whatever...

This is the season of giving and charity and a Letcher County Central High School student has set out to start a new local initiative to bring music to teens in need. Shoppers in Letcher County may notice boxes...

This fall students in Harlan, Floyd, and Knott Counties are bringing Spanish lessons about family and the holidays to your screen. Whether you're a teacher and want to bring these short lessons to your students, or just ready for a...

In the midst of Global Entrepreneurial Week, November 14-20, taking place across 157 countries, Kentucky Lieutenant Governor Jenean Hampton spoke to student business owners in east Kentucky. Phelps High School team, PierSmart, won first place for their water filtration...

Since dropping a full album dedicated to his school and community a few months ago, D3JUAN13, has built a national audience. The teenage rapper from Red Fox, KY went viral overnight when nearly 3,000 people, coast to coast, saw the...

Watch live on Thursday, November 17th as high school students from seven eastern Kentucky districts compete for $2000 in start-up cash for unique and creative business plans they've created in the last few months. Kentucky Lieutenant Governor Jenean Hampton will...

Thousands of educators, community leaders, and students gathered in Pikeville and via Livestream yesterday at the 3rd Annual Appalachian Renaissance Initiative (ARI) Promising Practices Summit.  The #ARIpromise Summit is hosted by the Kentucky Valley Educational Cooperative (KVEC) to spotlight the nation's greatest...

#ARIpromise Whether you're a teacher yourself or looking to partner with students and educators on business or community projects in the coming year, Wednesday October 26 is your best chance to connect! The Appalachian Renaissance Initiative (ARI) Promising Practices Summit brings...

We met the group of highly skilled Spanish and World Language teachers in August, joining a new Kentucky Valley Educational Cooperative (KVEC) Professional Action Network (PAN), Holler Fellows. Since then they've collectively won Outstanding Spanish Teacher of the Year, been appointed President of the American...

PETLL - Perpetuating Excellence in Teaching, Leadership and Learning is the Kentucky Valley Educational Cooperative's continuous school improvement program. Recently the creators, Dr. Jeff Hawkins and Dr. Henry Webb, of the PETLL program teamed up to write a guide book about the...

SOMERSET, Ky. – The first-ever Appalachian Health Hack-a-thon concluded Saturday at the Center for Rural Development in Somerset, Ky., with an announcement of the winners in various categories. Nineteen teams, including six student teams, presented their solutions to a...