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Topeka Fine Arts Teacher Brad LeDuc Wins $25,000 Milken Educator Award
Governor Brownback, Kansas Commissioner of Education Dr. DeBacker and Deputy Commissioner Dennis join in presentation of the 2013 Kansas “Oscar of Teaching”
October 17, 2013
What began as a routine shelter drill for the nearly 2,000 students and staff at Topeka’s Washburn Rural High School quickly turned into the surprise of a lifetime when Milken Family Foundation Chairman and Co-Founder Lowell Milken announced Brad LeDuc as the latest Milken Educator Award recipient. In a moment’s time, amidst cheers and applause, this unsung hero was heralded with a fanfare typically reserved for stellar performances by athletes and entertainers.
On hand to offer their congratulations were Governor Sam Brownback, Kansas Commissioner of Education Dr. Diane DeBacker, Kansas Deputy Commissioner Dale Dennis and Auburn Washburn USD 437 Superintendent Dr. Brenda S. Dietrich. Today’s Award will be the only one presented in Kansas this year and is one of up to 40 to be given in 2013.
“Our public education system is at the heart of America’s promise and essential to safeguarding the American dream for future generations,” said Lowell Milken, chairman and co-founder of the Milken Family Foundation. “With research confirming that effective teachers represent the single most important school-related factor in raising student achievement, it is important to honor them, learn from them, and inspire more capable people to enter the profession. As the program’s motto extols, the future belongs to the educated.”
About the Award Recipient
When a third of the student body at Washburn Rural High School in Topeka, KS, enrolls in art courses, it’s clear that fine arts teacher Brad LeDuc is making an impact. LeDuc's classes aren't just attended by aspiring artists, but are open to all students who year after year discover talents they never knew existed.
LeDuc’s rigorous standards have led to Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate courses in the arts that challenge students to achieve at higher levels. Since LeDuc's arrival at Washburn, graduation rates have jumped from 80% to 95%. One contributing factor is his Pyramid of Intervention, a peer-to-peer mentorship program in which stronger students help those with less confidence or skills. As just one example, his personal efforts changed the future for a troubled student facing serious disciplinary consequences into a promising high school graduate with a college art scholarship.
LeDuc's contributions are linked to virtually every aspect of the school's culture. A socially-conscious instructor, his lessons often focus on issues of poverty and abuse. The portraits his students paint of children in Sierra Leone for the Memory Project are then given to the youngsters as invaluable keepsakes. His leadership in creating an annual Cultural Heritage Week generates collaboration among all of the school's departments and greater understanding community-wide.
As a professional painter and printmaker himself, LeDuc doesn’t mislead students about the rigors of an artistic career. The "Art Lock In" is an annual "all-nighter" during which guest artists work alongside students. His students have consistently graduated at the top of the class, been accepted to the most prestigious art institutions in the country, and won numerous awards at regional and national levels. How fitting that LeDuc himself has now been recognized with the national Milken Educator Award.
Details
The Milken Educator Awards, conceived by Lowell Milken to attract, retain and motivate outstanding talent to the teaching profession, is the nation’s preeminent teacher recognition program, dubbed the “Oscars of Teaching” by Teacher Magazine. Since 1987, the Milken Family Foundation, co-founded by Michael and Lowell Milken, has devoted more than $136 million in funding to the Milken Educator Awards, including over $64 million in individual Awards to nearly 2,600 recipients plus powerful professional development opportunities and networking with leading education stakeholders.
Kansas Milken Educators
Kansas joined the Milken Educator Awards program in 1992.
60 Kansas Milken Educator Award recipients
$1,500,000 cash awards presented to Kansas Milken Educator Award recipients
More:
Milken Educator Awards Website: www.MilkenEducatorAwards.org
Kansas State Department of Education Website: www.ksde.org/
Auburn Washburn USD 437 Website: http://usd437.net/
Milken Family Foundation Website: www.mff.org
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Education reform leader Lowell Milken created the Milken Educator Awards to recognize exemplary teachers and established the National Institute for Excellence in Teaching (NIET) to generate more talented teachers, www.niet.org. NIET operates TAP: The System for Teacher and Student Advancement and the Best Practices Center. Lowell Milken recently provided the founding gift for the UCLA School of Law’s Lowell Milken Institute for Business Law and Policy. For more information about Lowell visit www.lowellmilken.com.