Since being recognized as a Milken Educator, Mr. Belcher has continued to serve the students of Pikeville in his new position as the district’s Chief Academic Officer and serves the region’s students in frequent projects with the Kentucky Valley Educational Cooperative.
At the time of his award, Mr. Belcher was a math department chair and dual-credit instructor. As math department chair and dual-credit instructor, it was no surprise that Johnny Belcher prepared his students at Pikeville High School to succeed in class, college and their future careers. Teaching is a way of life for Belcher, and he could be spotted instructing students everywhere on the campus-- whether in his classroom, the hallways, the lunchroom, or even on the way to his car. Students are captivated by his teaching approach. Belcher is known for the rigor he instills in each of his lessons, using grouping, one-on-one and peer-to- peer instruction as well as mentoring to make the content engaging and relevant for his students. Belcher consistently incorporated technology into his presentations. Students could be confident that they were learning from the most up-to-date instructional materials. As a result, Belcher's students had the highest ACT scores in the region and ranked 12th in the state. They also reported high success rates in college. As part of his leadership role in the math department, Belcher met with colleagues to evaluate test data and perform assessments to identify student needs. Belcher was a member of Pikeville High’s Comprehensive School Improvement Planning Committee and Academic Committee and served as the school's representative for the Instructional Support Network at the Kentucky Department of Education. He was an adjunct faculty member of the University of Pikeville. Recently, Belcher co-authored "Stretching to Survive: District Autonomy in an Age of Dwindling Resources", which appeared in the Journal of Research in Rural Education. The article was a product of Belcher's research efforts in a seven site study conducted by Dr. Aimee and Dr. Craig Howley of Ohio University.
