The classroom where Matt Foley teaches American government at Fayette County High School is the same room where he sat as a 10th grader. That detail — small, almost cinematic — captures something essential about the 2026 Fayette County Teacher of the Year.
Foley was named the district's top teacher at the annual awards ceremony. Now in his 21st year of teaching — his ninth at FCHS — he also serves as social studies department chair and government professional learning community lead.
His path to that classroom was anything but direct. Foley grew up less than a quarter mile from FCHS, attending East Fayette Elementary, Fayette Middle, and the high school itself. Both his parents worked for Fayette County Public Schools, so teaching was always somewhere in the back of his mind — but he went to college to study pre-law. Then he got the aviation bug.
He began substitute teaching, mostly at Flat Rock Middle, on days when the weather grounded him. Then came an offer for a long-term substitute role, starting the next morning.
I said, 'Okay. Let's give it a shot.' Twenty-one years later, I'm still doing it. Teaching found me and grabbed me and pulled me in.— Matt Foley, 2026 Fayette County Teacher of the Year
After 12 years at Flat Rock Middle, the opportunity to teach political science at his alma mater was one he couldn't pass up.
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.— Matt Foley, 2026 Fayette County Teacher of the Year
At FCHS, Foley teaches American government, AP government and politics, and AP macroeconomics. He says the subjects carry a particular weight for his students — most of them 17 and 18 years old, on the edge of adulthood.
Helping students become the most capable versions of themselves, I think that's my biggest why. 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 every day for the rest of your life.— Matt Foley, 2026 Fayette County Teacher of the Year
His classroom approach centers on debate, collaboration, and learning to work with people who hold different views — skills he sees as inseparable from the subject matter itself.
I want them to know how to think, how to communicate, how to work with people that they don't necessarily agree with. Watching kids realize that they're capable of more than they first thought they were, that never gets old.— Matt Foley, 2026 Fayette County Teacher of the Year
His favorite moments come when the class takes on a life of its own.
That's always fun when the kids take over and they start going and I can just step back and just watch it happen.— Matt Foley, 2026 Fayette County Teacher of the Year
Foley's story is also the subject of an episode on 'The Honor Role,' the first official podcast for Fayette County Public Schools. The show features employees across the district — teachers, staff, nurses, custodians, cafeteria workers, and bus drivers — and is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and other major platforms.
Why it matters — Foley's recognition puts a face on what civic education looks like at the classroom level — and raises the question of what it means to prepare teenagers for a world shaped by government and economics before they ever cast a vote.
⚠ Not yet confirmed
- exact date April 16 and 2026 ceremony attribution to Fayette County Board of Education and thecitizen.com
- He serves as social studies department chair and government professional learning community lead.
Reported by fayette-news.net, fcboe.org, thecitizen.com, buzzsprout.com
Where this comes from
Written by Papalocal's AI from these outlets' reporting. It can miss or misread things; the outlets are the record.