Art teacher Claire Smullen has taught students from first grade to 12th, but she loves middle school, a time when “students are trying to figure out how they fit into the world.”
A government grant took Bill Sterrett (VA '08) to Pakistan to collaborate with local educators on middle school STEM projects. He learned as much as he taught.
After years as a celebrated educator in Tacoma, Nate Bowling (WA ’13) left the U.S. to teach in Abu Dhabi. The biggest difference: resources.
Chris Bessonette's (WY '18) immigrant students flourish at dual-language Munger Mountain Elementary School.
In addition to helming her kindergarten classroom at Madison Elementary in Norman, Hailey Couch (OK ’18) also leads the Climate Committee. Its goal: improving staff morale, boosting retention rates and creating authentic connections among students, staff and parents.
With guidance from Andrew Franz (NY ’17), four students from Buffalo win a national competition that sends their experiment on the effects of microgravity on bacterial growth to the International Space Station.
Just a few weeks after we surprised Becky Streff (NE ’18) with her Milken Award in North Bend, the Platte River overflowed its banks and flooded the town. As the community came together, the fifth-grade teacher turned the devastating floods into a teachable moment.
The Volunteer Corps Club grew out of 2019 Tennessee Milken Educator Shelly Gaughan’s own passion for community service: “It was really important to me to make sure I was providing our kids with meaningful learning opportunities.”
Since his Milken Award surprise at Smalley Academy in New Britain, Manny Zaldivar (CT ’16) has transitioned from first-grade teacher to administrator. Here, he reflects on his first year as an assistant principal at New Britain’s Chamberlain Elementary School.
Students need critical thinking tools to help them discern fake news from real information—and they need it in elementary school. Sarah Compton (WI ’18) shares her approach to teaching media literacy.
