Students sometimes tell Gina Benz (SD '15) that teaching is their backup plan. She reminds them that behind every doctor, engineer, architect, inventor and artist are the teachers who inspired and challenged them.
Winning the Milken Educator Award inspired TAP Master Teacher Jessica Major (LA '15) to encourage young people to consider careers in education.
What would Melody Coryell (IN '15) do with a million bucks? Pay IB exam fees, buy laptops, expand teacher salary lines, and send students out to see the world.
Years working in construction taught science teacher Eric Patin (NC '15) something important about how people learn: Doing works better than watching.
Science teacher Michaela Lamarre (ME '15) learned an important lesson during her first year of teaching: Flexibility is the key to success.
Math teacher Matt Harvey (CA '15) pushes his students past their point of comfort, but as long as they feel supported, he says, they'll keep trying — and respect themselves more in the end.
Principal Chandler Smith (LA '15) wants three things from his students: respect, honest conversation, and a commitment to graduate.
Great teachers change lives: It's one of the Milken Educator Awards' guiding principles. Here, three former students of veteran Milken Educator Dr. Jeffrey Gall (MO '96) share the long-range impact of their years in Gall's history class.
Kimberly Moreno (CA '15) planned to become a doctor but thought she could make more of an impact in healthcare education. Her million-dollar dream: training the next generation of medical and nursing assistants, health care administrators and paramedics.
Summers as a camp counselor taught science teacher Nick Williams (CA '15) how to connect with his creative side, make kids feel welcome and turn work into play.
