Mr. Keonte Alexander

Educator of the Year (K-6)

'Primed for Progress': Keonte grew up in the heart of downtown Cincinnati. As the oldest of four brothers, he learned what sacrifice means and how to put others safety, mental health and well-being before his own. Growing up in Over-the-Rhine before the gentrification began, there were not many, if any opportunities for people that looked like him to make it out of a poverty stricken environment that was once forgotten about. He realized education was my way out. After graduating from Hughes (Big Red) in the STEM program, he got an early dose of how important Math and Science education was to us in society and how we use it in everyday life. He worked several jobs for a few years after, and it left him feeling unfulfilled and without purpose. His dad took one look at him sitting on the couch and gave me a reality check. His message was clear, yet stern and came from a place of love, "You are too smart to just be sitting around not doing SOMETHING." He enrolled into Cincinnati State Technical and Community College the following semester.

He is forever grateful for the support system Cincy State gave me from Day 1. They treated him like family and gave him the opportunity to show the type of person he is by connecting him with the Boys and Girls of Greater Cincinnati. The experience at the BGC, made him switch his major from Sports Administration to Education. He then transferred to the University of Cincinnati to further his education and hone his skills as an educator, with support from his mentor, as well as the Gen-1 (First Generation) program and MAFE (Minority Association of Future Educators). Staying home made him realize his love of Cincinnati, as much as Cincinnati has given him. Keonte says “I am Cincinnati. I am Cincinnati Public Schools. I stayed home when I had every reason to run. These students need a person who can relate but also see the very real challenges, labels and limitations placed upon them by their environment. In my classroom, there is not a student I will not try to meet where they are and push them forward. Limitations, challenges, problems are very real but me and my students are living proof that we have been ‘Primed for Progress’”