OP-ED
The Unseen Heart of Public Education
Melissa Hughes is a hero hiding in plain sight. You have likely never heard her name, let alone know the great lengths she goes to daily to care for the students and families connected to Campbellsville Independent Schools. She has bought food for hungry students out of her own pocket, transported kids to and from games in her own vehicle, and—when one student had nowhere to go—took her into her home and made sure she had a safe place to land. American Education Week celebrates Melissa and the countless others like her across the nation.
American Education Week has been around for more than a century. It began in 1921, when the National Education Association and the American Legion raised the alarm that too many young people weren’t getting the education they needed to thrive in a democracy. Their idea was simple: once a year, pause long enough to recognize the people who keep public schools moving. A hundred years later, that pause still matters.
Most people see the visible pieces of school life — a classroom, a report card, a test score. What they miss is the work happening underneath: the teacher who stays late to help a struggling student; the bus driver who picks up on a child’s rough morning; the counselor who keeps a teenager engaged to school during a hard season; the custodian who makes the building feel cared for. None of it shows up in headlines, but it’s what makes the rest possible.
The truth is, public education is carrying more weight than ever. Student needs are more complex. Staff shortages, especially the teacher shortage in Kentucky, stretch every corner of a school. Communities are more divided, and schools absorb that tension whether they want to or not. And still, day after day, educators show up. They create calm when the world feels chaotic. They give kids structure, encouragement, and a sense that they matter. That doesn’t mean everything is perfect. It means the people doing the work refuse to give up on our students.
American Education Week gives us a chance to name that reality and to appreciate the people whose efforts are easy to overlook. If this week is going to mean something, it has to be more than a social media post. Please show up for your schools. Speak up when policy decisions make their work harder. And take a moment to tell an educator directly that what they do matters.
Each day when the staff and students of Campbellsville Independent walk into their buildings, they step into a culture shaped in part by Melissa’s quiet consistency and deep care. Schools everywhere have people like her—steady hands, steady hearts, doing work that rarely draws attention but always makes a difference. This year, I challenge you to notice those educators in your community and to find your own way to carry that same spirit forward.
Rhonda Caldwell, Ed.D.
Chief Executive Officer
KY Assn School Administrators
87 C. Michael Davenport Blvd.
Frankfort, KY 40601
