LOUISVILLE, Ky. – A Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS) teacher who works with some of the district’s most vulnerable children has been named a 2025 Kentucky Teacher Achievement Award winner and finalist for the 2025 Kentucky Teacher of the Year award.
Angela Hardin teaches kindergarten through third-grade students at Peace Academy, an on-site school for children admitted to UofL Health – Peace Hospital who have often endured abuse and neglect.
“I get up and go to work every day, and it’s not really work,” Hardin said. “The kids have struggled with so many things in their short lives that would make any grown person just collapse under the pressure. But they just keep going. Honestly, it’s a privilege to work with them.”
Hardin called the award “an honor” and said she was flattered to be nominated alongside such a talented group of Kentucky educators.
She was sitting on a swing in her backyard watching her children play when she got the call that she was a finalist and said she almost fell out of her seat in surprise.
“You know how hard it is to fall out of a bench swing, right?” she said. “I was shocked, happy, surprised, excited—all of those things.”
At Peace Academy, teachers strive to ensure students don’t fall behind in their studies while admitted as hospital patients. Education is one of the most important tools to help them halt the cycle of abuse, neglect and trauma, Hardin said.
Denille Johnson, principal of JCPS State Agency Schools, called Hardin “an asset to JCPS and a true champion for kids” who advocates for children to be safe, supported by caring adults and academically challenged.
Hardin worked at Kenwood Elementary School in a self-contained Learning and Behavior Disorders (LBD) classroom for 17 years before moving to Peace Hospital last year.
In less than one year at her new school, Hardin made quite the impression, with Peace Academy Assistant Principal Carrie Elzy submitting a nomination on Hardin’s behalf for the Kentucky Teacher Achievement Award.
As a trauma-sensitive teacher, Hardin is patient, kind and understanding of student’s individual needs, Elzy wrote in her nomination letter. However, she doesn’t allow their current placement or situation to dictate the level of instruction she provides, finding engaging ways to differentiate instruction and reach every single student.
“Students in her class do not leave the same way they came,” Elzy wrote in the nomination letter. “They are in many ways changed for the better for having been in Ms. Hardin’s class.”
Hardin called working with Peace Academy students the “most rewarding thing I’ve ever done” and praised her fellow staff members.
“I work with some really amazing people,” Hardin said. “I’m not really sure why Ms. Elzy singled me out—although I’m really grateful it happened—because everyone that works here is phenomenal. I’m so grateful to be a part of this team.”
Hardin was named a Kentucky Teacher Achievement Award winner in the elementary division.
All nine Kentucky Teacher Achievement Award winners will be honored during a ceremony in Frankfort on Sept. 10. During the ceremony, the Kentucky Department of Education will announce winners of the elementary, middle and high school teaching divisions. From those three finalists, one will be named the 2025 Kentucky Teacher of the Year, who will then represent the state in the National Teacher of the Year competition.
All award recipients will receive cash prizes. The overall Kentucky Teacher of the Year will receive $10,000 and will be offered a six-month sabbatical with KDE during their year as an ambassador of the teaching profession.
KDE received 528 teacher nominations this year, and judging was conducted by a blue-ribbon panel of veteran educators from across the state.
Applications included information on the nominees’ teaching philosophies, teaching experiences and involvement in their respective communities, as well as letters of recommendation from peers, students, families, administrators and others.
