Kenna Barger

Kenna Barger joined Emerald Education as Executive Director of STEM in August 2019.

She started her education career as a mathematics teacher, school administrator, district leader and state Department of Education consultant in West Virginia. Before coming to Emerald Education, Barger was the Division Director for Instructional Programs at the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) in Atlanta, Georgia, where she led the development of people, products and processes within the Advanced Career, Learning Centered Leader Partnership, Literacy and Math, Project-Based Learning and Readiness programs.

A National Board-Certified educator, Barger has been honored with the Milken Family Foundation National Educator Award, the Disney American Teacher Award and the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching. She has been featured in the Creative Classroom Video Series by Harvard Project Zero and the PBS Taping, “Raising Expectations of Career Bound Students” and served as the education representative at the President’s Economic Forum.

Barger has amassed more than 25 years of experience partnering with educators in schools, districts and state agencies across the nation in an effort to improve the efficacy of initiatives related to school improvement, professional learning, STEM and Career and Technical Education. She holds a master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction – Secondary Mathematics from West Virginia University as well as Master’s + 45 endorsements in Educational Leadership.

A native of West Virginia, Barger is passionate about community involvement and community service. Believing that there is no power of change greater than that of a community working together, Barger seeks to ensure stakeholder relevance and collaboration are a part of all educational endeavors. Her lived experience supports her belief that regardless the setting – rural, suburban, or urban – ordinary people working together can produce extraordinary results.

She and her husband, Shelton, are the parents of three adult children and make their home in the hills of Appalachia.