NAME:
Keely Green
SCHOOL:
NOMS
CLASS:
American History
SCHOOL PHONE:
228-9998 ext 106
Written by Mrs. Green’s parents Rick and Kathy Jones
Teaching has always been a big part of Keely's family. One set of her great-
grandparents met as teachers in the same 2-room schoolhouse at the turn of
the last century on the Kansas prairie. Both of us, Keely's mom and dad,
taught and have recently retired from our careers in education...Kathy was a
director of technology for 60 school districts and Rick was a high school
principal at both his and Keely's alma mater in Michigan. So, it is not
surprising when the love of teaching came naturally to Keely.
Born in Panama City, Florida, Keely and her younger sister, Lauren, loved
the white sand beach, moon pies, and boiled peanuts. Since her dad was a
football coach, there was lots of playtime in his classroom, the weight
room,the gym, and the bleachers. In Florida, Keely began her love affair
for sports, participating in road races, gymnastics, and tennis.
In the middle of her 5th grade year, our family moved to Michigan where
Keely and Lauren learned to love the "white as sand" snow, Sander's bumpy
cake,and Vernors ginger-ale (she still missed her boiled peanuts!).
As much as Keely learned and enjoyed elementary school, it may have been
middle school that sparked some life-long interests and friendships. An all-
time great teacher who could make everyone feel special had a lasting
influence and she made two "best friends" who remain that way today; in
fact,they were both in her wedding.
Middle school also provided some opportunities to tutor younger students,
experiences that left Keely with warm feelings about teaching for her life's
work. In middle school, she made the decision to focus on tennis, a
difficult one for her because she loved gymnastics so much.
Keely loved high school, despite having to have her dad as one of her
teachers, (in fact, she even commented to her mom that "dad is really
funny...at school!") Her life centered around her studies, sports, student
government, and community service. She was two-year captain and #1 singles
player on the tennis team and she trained and played tennis tournaments year-
round.
After falling in love with the campus on a visit during her senior year in
high school, Keely attended Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York. She
continued her tennis career again serving two-years as team captain and
winning 100 matches in her four-year career. A highlight for her, indeed
for our entire family, was when she and her sister were paired as a doubles
team during Keely's senior year and Lauren's freshman year.
At Vassar, she had the amazing opportunity to work on and attend the "Missed
Opportunities" history conference that happened in Hanoi, Vietnam with
former Secretary of Defense, Robert McNamara and policy and military advisers
and historians from the USA and Vietnam on decisions made during the Vietnam
War. As parents, we were shocked that she was studying Vietnam as history,
when to us it was current events! Anyway, Vassar was an incredible window
in our family's life and both girls really thrived there. And, as parents,
if we thought the high school years went by fast, the college years were gone
in a heartbeat!
Her Vassar experiences enabled her to go on to graduate school at the
University of Kentucky and the University of Louisville where she earned a
master's degree from each and completed all of her doctoral course work. At
UK she meet her husband, Ryan, who currently works the Executive Director for
the Education and Workforce Development Cabinet in Frankfort.
We thought we might always only be able to talk about our "grand-kitties"
(Keely and Ryan have two cats), but in 2010 after 8 years of marriage, Keely
and Ryan had a son, Cullen. Of course, we are proud grandparents, but we do
find it rather clever that a kid with the last name of "Green" chose to make
his world debut on St. Patrick's Day!
Keely has been blessed to earn and receive wonderful awards and recognitions
during her educational career including the American Legion Award in high
school; recognition as an ITA (Intercollegiate Tennis Association) Academic
All-American; and being awarded a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship while at Vassar.
With that said, the recognition she cherishes the most, and is so humbled to
have received, is the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History award as
Kentucky's History Teacher of the Year...as she says, "This award is about the
great kids and school where I work every day...it doesn't get any better than
this!"
