About the Author

Lu Settles Young

Lu Settles Young is superintendent of Jessamine County Schools, her home school district, where she began her career in education in 1983. Since that time she has served as teacher, assistant principal, director of curriculum, assistant superintendent, and was appointed superintendent in 2004. Mrs. Young will earn her doctorate from Northern Kentucky University in May 2013.

In addition to her work at the district-level, Mrs. Young was appointed by Kentucky Governor Ernie Fletcher to serve on the School Curriculum Assessment and Accountability Council (SCAAC), which she chaired until spring 2012. She was later appointed by Governor Steve Beshear to serve on the state Gifted Advisory Council. Mrs. Young also serves as the Vice President of the KY Association of School Administrators (KASA). Her other professional commitments include serving on the Interagency Advisory Council for the Kentucky Educational Collaborative for State Agency Children (KECSAC), the board of the Kentucky Council for Administrators of Special Education (KY CASE), the board of the Kentucky Association of School Superintendents (KASS), and the Superintendents’ Advisory Council (SAC) – an advisory group to the Commissioner of Education. She also serves on the Governing Board of the American Association of School Administrators (AASA).

Mrs. Young has been an active member of the Jessamine County Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors since 2005 and recently finished a term as Chamber President in January 2013. She is also a member of the Nicholasville Rotary Club, the Jessamine County Education Foundation, and the United Way of the Bluegrass where she serves on the Board of Trustees and as the Education Impact Council Chair. Mrs. Young was recently appointed to the board of the regional impact group Bluegrass Tomorrow. In 2008, Mrs. Young was inducted into the Eastern Kentucky University Distinguished Alumni Hall of Fame and was selected for the KY World Language Association Administrator of the Year award. Mrs. Young was also named the 2012 Kentucky Superintendent of the Year by the KY Association of School Administrators.

On a personal note, Mrs. Young has been married to her husband, Tim, for 30 years and they have two children, Tyler and Natalie. The one thing that Mrs. Young would want you to know about her is that she is extremely proud of Jessamine County Schools and her work as a KY superintendent. She loves her community, its children, and their families and her passion is reflected in the district mission statement... to motivate and challenge every child, every day!