With summer in full swing and the school year already a distant memory, let’s not forget about our nation’s educators who stood up in front of our kids all year and inspired them to be the best they can be. The wonderful teachers that are in class everyday doing what they do best and have that strong desire and love for the art of teaching. Sure they deal with moods, attitudes and and unturned in homework but, they still care about each and every student and their success. A teacher’s job is not just about teaching from the book, a teacher is someone who enables their students to learn, gives them them tools and explanations, and creates a positive learning environment.
It’s easy for students, as well as parents, to recognize those teachers that really have it going on but, where is their recognition? Well, we give them holiday and end of the year gift certificates to the mall or their favorite restaurants and praise them for what a great job they’ve done. Ok, that’s nice, but how about how they compare to others in the school, in the state, in the country?
Enter Lowell Milken and the Milken Educator Award, a program that rewards and inspires excellence in the world of education by honoring top educators around the country with $25,000 unrestricted awards. Not an accolade for “lifetime achievement” or the proverbial gold watch at the exit door, the Milken Educator Awards targets early-to-mid career education professionals for their already impressive achievements and, more significantly, for the promise of what they will accomplish in the future.
Lowell Milken created the Milken Educator Awards in order to recognize the importance of outstanding educators and to encourage talented young people to choose teaching as a career. Coined “the Oscars of teaching” by Teacher Magazine, the Milken Educator Awards recognizes exceptional teachers in surprise ceremonies surrounded by their students and faculty, where each educator is given an unrestricted $25,000 reward. First presented to twelve outstanding recipients in California in 1987, the Milken Educator Awards’ national network is now 2,500 strong and dedicated to strengthening the nation’s schools.
Now that’s what I call an award! It’s the nation’s preeminent teacher recognition program and the recipients have no idea that they are getting the award. The main element is surprise!. Each year, newly selected recipients are taken completely by surprise at schoolwide assemblies. With an entourage of media and distinguished officials, a Foundation representative or the state chief of education typically notifies the recipient, often accompanied by the governor and other state and federal leaders.
How cool would that be to have one of your local teachers recognized in a such a way. It would certainly be a school day like no other.
Based on guidelines established by the Foundation, participating states’ departments of education appoint blue-ribbon committees that recommend candidates for selection. Identification and selection procedures are confidential, and the program does not include a formal nomination or application procedure.
Click Here to check out the 2012-2013 Milken Educators, you may see a teacher you know!
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