Bio

Donnie Piercey is the 2021 Kentucky Teacher of the Year and teaches fifth grade in Lexington, Kentucky. After graduating from Asbury College and earning his master’s from Auburn Montgomery, he is now in his twenty-first year of teaching in Kentucky public schools. Donnie specializes in using technology to promote student inquiry, learning, and engagement.

Those interests have given him the unique chance to represent Kentucky and his students around the world. He was invited to the White House to meet with the President in 2021, received a National Geographic Grosvenor Teacher Fellowship to Antarctica, and represented Kentucky on the inaugural National Geographic Teacher Advisory Council. He was the first North American lead for the Google Earth Education Experts Network and the first teacher in Kentucky to become both a Google Certified Innovator and a Google Certified Trainer. In 2017, he co-authored The Google Cardboard Book: Explore, Engage, and Educate with Virtual Reality, based on virtual experiences he created for his students. He also co-hosts The Partial Credit Podcast, a podcast for educators.

Donnie’s recent work in AI and education has not gone unnoticed, earning him multiple appearances on Good Morning America, the Associated Press, and PBS. His book, “50 Strategies for Using AI in the Classroom,” published by Teacher Created Materials, offers educators practical classroom approaches to using AI to revolutionize their teaching and enrich their students’ learning.

Donnie has been invited to keynote and present at conferences and schools in thirty-three states and on five continents. The Bluegrass always calls him home, however, and he regularly leads professional development for school districts across the state.