Kentucky Elementary Teacher of the Year Scott Johnson ’02 urges aspiring educators to be students’ ‘guide on the side.’
by Duane Bonifer
COLUMBIA, KY. (03/27/2026) For an hour on Thursday, March 26, more than three dozen Lindsey Wilson University education students received a master class in teaching from one of the best and more innovative teachers in Kentucky.
Lindsey Wilson alumnus Scott Johnson ’02 spent part of the afternoon with education students in the Doug and Betty Jean Moseley Auditorium of the Norma and Glen Hodge Center for Discipleship, where he recounted his education career, offered advice on how to reach students, extolled the virtues of learning from students, and shared how his selfless act to help a student attracted national attention.
“The only thing that I get really, really teared up on is when I look back on my career of awesome students,” said Johnson, who has been teaching for more than two decades.
A Burkesville, Kentucky, native, Johnson told the students how he struggled to find his first teaching job because he entered the job market “when there was a glut of teachers.”
But once he started his teaching career at Edmonton Elementary in Metcalfe County, he began charting a path that has included being named 2025 Kentucky Elementary Teacher of the Year by the Kentucky Department of Education.
Johnson now serves at Red Cross Elementary School in neighboring Barren County, where he teaches STEAM to students from pre-school through sixth grade — science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics. STEAM is an ideal subject for Johnson to teach because, as he told the Lindsey Wilson students, “it’s all connected.”
In addition to teaching, Johnson has also coached elementary, middle and high school sports, and he’s earned two master’s degrees. Some of his former students and players now teach with him at Red Cross Elementary.
“That’s amazing,” he said.
‘I don’t know’
In addition to displaying a passion for teaching and working with young people, Johnson reminded the aspiring Lindsey Wilson teachers that humility is an important quality for them to possess and demonstrate daily with students.
“When you go into your new teaching experiences, it’s cool that you will know things and know how to do things, but it’s just as cool to say, ‘I don’t know. Can you teach me?'” he said. “You show a kid that you are able to let them teach you, they will be more than happy to let you teach them.”
Johnson shuns being a “sage on the stage” in favor of partnering with students on their educational journey of becoming a lifelong learner.
“We are not the sage on the stage in our classroom, we are the guide on the side,” he said. “When we can empower them to do something without us you have created an autonomous individual who is capable of learning.”
Trying something new
When Johnson was 41 years old, he started to learn how to use his school’s 3D printer as a way to enhance his lessons to Red Cross Elementary students. After he got to know student Jackson Farmer, Johnson decided to apply his newfound skill to help the young boy. Jackson was born without a right hand, so Johnson used 3D printing technology to design and build a prosthetic hand.
Following about a year of experimentation, Johnson produced a prosthetic hand made of bioplastic corn and strong fishing line, which was recommended by a school janitor who is an avid fisherman. The first successful prosthetic hand cost about $20 to make.
Jackson, who is now in the fourth grade, is using the fifth edition of Johnson’s specially created hand. Johnson said that one cost about $4 to make.
Johnson’s act of kindness, creativity and innovation earned him and Jackson a good deal of national media attention, including a feature on the ABC World News Tonight with David Muir “#AmericaStrong” segment and a guest spot on the nationally syndicated TV show The Jennifer Hudson Show.
As Johnson told the Lindsey Wilson education students, the project was a lesson in why they should embrace new things throughout their career.
“Never be afraid to try something new,” he said. “Remember: amateurs built the ark, professionals built the Titanic.”
Lindsey Wilson University alumnus Scott Johnson ’02, 2025 Kentucky Elementary Teacher of the Year, was invited to speak to more than three dozen Lindsey Wilson education students on Thursday, March 26, in the Doug and Betty Jean Moseley Auditorium of the Norma and Glen Hodge Center for Discipleship by Lindsey Wilson education faculty member Lisa Newell-Hare.
Lindsey Wilson University alumnus Scott Johnson ’02, 2025 Kentucky Elementary Teacher of the Year, speaks to Lindsey Wilson education students on Thursday, March 26, in the Doug and Betty Jean Moseley Auditorium of the Norma and Glen Hodge Center for Discipleship.
Lindsey Wilson University alumnus Scott Johnson ’02, 2025 Kentucky Elementary Teacher of the Year, speaks to Lindsey Wilson education students on Thursday, March 26, in the Doug and Betty Jean Moseley Auditorium of the Norma and Glen Hodge Center for Discipleship. At left are pencil holders shaped like shoes that his students at Red Cross Elementary School in Glasgow, Kentucky, made for the LWU students on their school’s 3D printer.
Lindsey Wilson University alumnus Scott Johnson ’02, 2025 Kentucky Elementary Teacher of the Year, speaks to Lindsey Wilson education students on Thursday, March 26, in the Doug and Betty Jean Moseley Auditorium of the Norma and Glen Hodge Center for Discipleship.
Lindsey Wilson University alumnus Scott Johnson ’02, 2025 Kentucky Elementary Teacher of the Year, center, spoke to Lindsey Wilson education students on Thursday, March 26, in the Doug and Betty Jean Moseley Auditorium of the Norma and Glen Hodge Center for Discipleship.
A model of the prosthetic hand that Lindsey Wilson University alumnus Scott Johnson ’02 created for Red Cross Elementary School student Jackson Farmer, who was born without a right hand. Johnson created the hand for about $20 out of bioplastic corn and strong fishing line, which was recommended by a school janitor who is an avid fisherman.
Lindsey Wilson University is a vibrant liberal arts university in Columbia, Kentucky. Founded in 1903 and affiliated with The United Methodist Church, the mission of Lindsey Wilson is to serve the educational needs of students by providing a living-learning environment within an atmosphere of active caring and Christian concern where every student, every day, learns and grows and feels like a real human being. Lindsey Wilson offers 30 undergraduate majors, five graduate programs and a doctoral program. The university’s 29 intercollegiate varsity athletic teams have won more than 120 team and individual national championships.
(Duane Bonifer – Lindsey Wilson University)