Special to the Herald

Kentucky Highway Maps Distributed to Two Perry County Elementary Schools

Last week, the Kentucky Transportation

Cabinet began distributing Kentucky official highway maps to elementary

schools all across the Commonwealth. The maps will be used for geography and

social studies classes as well for reference materials in school libraries.

Maps were presented to A.B. Combs Elementary and Willard Elementary in Perry

County. At A.B. Combs, Principal Brad Adams and teacher Stella Rackey

accepted the maps. At Willard, Principal Jody Campbell accepted the

donation. H.B. Elkins, public information officer for the Department of

Highways District 10 office in Jackson, made the trip to Perry County to

present the maps to the schools and their principal on Tuesday, Jan. 24.

"We have an abundance of 2004 and 2005 maps in storage, and, we view this as

a golden opportunity to contribute to the expansion of horizons for

thousands of young Kentuckians," said Transportation Cabinet Secretary Bill

Nighbert. "When a child becomes familiar with names and places and the

various routes that connect them, that child's curiosity can grow into a

thirst for more knowledge about Kentucky."

Gene Wilhoit, commissioner of the Department of Education, thanked the

Transportation Cabinet for choosing to make these maps available to

elementary school students. "Frankly, we are pleased that, when the

Transportation Cabinet realized they had surplus highway maps at the end of

the calendar year, their first thought was to use them to support education!

Having readily accessible maps for so many children will lead them in the

right direction to make many new discoveries in life."

When the determination was made that there was a large supply of surplus

maps, Secretary Nighbert contacted Education Cabinet officials, who, in

turn, invited school principals and teachers to e-mail their requests for

maps to the Transportation Cabinet.

"This is a shining example of how various agencies of state government can

work together to improve student achievement," added Education Cabinet

Secretary Virginia Fox. "In fact, this project is consistent with two very

important themes in Governor Fletcher's overall vision for the Commonwealth,

to advance education and to foster a cooperative spirit in state government.

The Transportation Cabinet's maps initiative promotes the Governor's vision

with Unbridled Spirit!"

Commissioner of Tourism Randy Fiveash sees this project as a potential long

range boon to tourism in the state. "These maps will be great learning tools

for the students," said Commissioner Fiveash. "There will also be the added

benefit of the maps becoming tourism tools, which will show the students and

their families the numerous potential vacation opportunities available in

Kentucky. We also want to commend Secretary Nighbert and the Transportation

Cabinet for their decision to provide Kentucky maps to Kentucky schools."

Transportation Cabinet representatives from the Central Office in Frankfort

and from district offices all around the state fanned out across Kentucky to

begin delivery of the maps. To date, the Cabinet has received e-mail map

requests from teachers, principals and superintendents from every area of

the Commonwealth. In District 10, schools from eight counties requested

maps, which will be delivered in the next few weeks.