Nate Kirsch (TN ’19) hopes his students leave his class confident in their ability to tackle tough issues: “The ability to stay put and keep fighting when things are hard will help them thrive in relationships, at work and in life.”
Leslie Sullivan (SC ’19) turned her $25,000 Milken Award into an economics lesson on taxation and budgeting: “When students are engaged with the content, they remember far more of it.”
In addition to her science classes at North Pole High School, Rebecca Missler (AK ’19) has taken students to Belize and Costa Rica with the International Club. “Many students in Alaska have never left the state,” she says. “I love seeing them step outside their comfort zone as they embrace different cultures.”
No one understands Southwest Junior High School students better than Principal Omar Duron (AZ ’19), who arrived in San Luis in third grade as an English language learner. “I use my life stories as examples,” he says. “I truly hope to make a difference in their lives.”
Melissa Fike (MO ’19) struggled with math in middle school, but a high school teacher sparked her love for the subject. That’s what drew her to teaching: “I wanted the opportunity to share with students how exciting math can be.”
Math teacher Candice Harrington (CA ’19) loves watching the changes in her students as they morph from scared, “spongy” ninth-graders to confident, opinionated, funny seniors: “Not a day goes by that I don’t laugh out loud.”
Julie Rowell (OR ’19) loves working with students on the cusp of adulthood: “There are so many amazing directions their lives can go, and I enjoy taking that journey with them.”
When English teacher Margaret (M.E.) Hersey (MA ’19) builds reading lists for her predominantly black and brown students, the first thing she thinks about is representation. “I want them to imagine radical possibilities for their futures and the futures of their communities,” she says. “To do that, they need to be exposed to authors who look and sound like them.”
Nick Jacques (NV ’19) has doubled the size of his band program by combining caring, supportive music instruction with high expectations, forging a unique culture: “I create an environment that students want to be part of.”
Lyndsay Hartmann (NE ’19) may use her Milken Award prize to enrich her lessons by traveling to Civil War sites and World War II museums: “The greatest gift I can give to the future is citizens who have the skills to understand the world around them and acknowledge the potential impact they have.”
