Kentucky Department of Education's Commissioner's Student Advisory Council presented its year-end project focused on promoting Individual Learning Plans during an April 28 meeting in Frankfort, announcing a statewide campaign designed to encourage student engagement with postsecondary planning.

Members of the Commissioner's Student Advisory Council presented an introduction video for a campaign promoting Individual Learning Plans, with council members having spent the school year reviewing ILP and postsecondary planning resources to propose how they might be maximized to ensure a meaningful post-high school transition.

During their February meeting, council members decided to create a promotional video for the statewide campaign, and the ILP Commercial Showcase will begin after the start of the 2026-2027 school year, involving giving students around the state the opportunity to submit commercials that define what the ILP is and how they use it in their district. Select commercials will be shared on KDE's social media channels.

Commissioner of Education Robbie Fletcher said ILPs are a great way for students to personalize their high school pathways and have more vibrant learning experiences that align with what they want to do after high school, noting that the ILP is important because there are so many parts that can be catered to individual student needs.

The 2026 Kentucky Teacher of the Year Michelle Gross, a math teacher at Spencer County Middle School, spoke to the council about her work with vibrant learning experiences in her classroom, explaining that vibrant learning is learning that's meaningful, engaging and connected to real life, moving beyond traditional classroom instruction and often using projects as a way for students to spark curiosity, creativity and collaboration.

One vibrant learning project that Gross leads is the ratios recipe project, in which students pick a recipe and use math to scale it up for a crowd or scale it down to feed just a few people, then cook the food either for their family or their class.

New members of the student advisory council to replace graduating seniors are expected to be announced by KDE in June.