Stir Up Conversation: Foley Builds Responsible Citizens

Matt Foley, the 2026 Fayette County Teacher of the Year, helps students find their voice as a social studies teacher at Fayette County High.

Now in his 9th year at FCHS, Foley teaches American Government, AP government, and AP macroeconomics to the Tigers. He grew up less than a quarter-mile from the school, attending East Fayette Elementary, Fayette Middle, and Fayette County High as a student. He even teaches in the same room where he had a class in 10th grade.

“I’m really, really local,” he said.

Foley took an unlikely flight plan to becoming a teacher. Because both of his parents worked for Fayette County Public Schools, teaching was always in the back of his mind, but he went to college to study pre-law. He also got the aviation bug. He did a lot of substitute teaching, mostly at Flat Rock Middle, when the weather was bad and he couldn’t fly. He was offered a longterm sub role, starting the next day.

“I said ‘Okay. Let’s give it a shot,’” he remembered. “Twenty-one years later I’m still doing it. Teaching found me and grabbed me and pulled me in.”

After 12 years at Flat Rock, he made the jump to FCHS when he had the opportunity to teach political science classes.

“You can go back to the place where you graduated and teach exactly what your college degree was based on. I’ve got to give this a shot,” he thought.

He loves working at a school with a diversity of population and viewpoints. His favorite classes are when they can engage in a healthy debate.

“That’s always fun when the kids take over and they start going and I can just step back and just watch it happen.”

Above all, Foley wants to create responsible citizens.

“Helping students become the most capable versions of themselves, I think that’s my biggest why,” he said. “With what I teach, we’re taking kids that are 17 and 18 and they’re about to enter the real world and teaching them government and economics. Those things are going to surround you everyday for the rest of your life.”

He encourages his classes to be active and collaborative.

“I want them to know how to think, how to communicate, how to work with people that they don’t necessarily agree with,” he said. “Watching kids realize that they’re capable of more than they first thought they were, that never gets old.”