Milken Educators: Where Are They Now? (Part 1)

Craig Lindvahl (IL '89)

Then:

Craig Lindvahl taught high school band and television production at Teutopolis High School in Teutopolis, Illinois, when he won the Milken Award in 1989. He led a group of students to produce a documentary on the country and culture of Marshall Islands, which was distributed through the Peace Corps to thousands of schools. 

In addition to his work in education, Craig has written, composed and produced documentary films for PBS, netting him 12 Emmy Awards.

Now:

Craig’s impressive 35-year career in education led to an appointment on the Illinois State Board of Education in February 2015. He also serves as Executive Director of the Midland Institute for Entrepreneurship, which is a company that educates future business leaders.

In his own words: 

“Receiving the Milken Educator Award completely changed my life. It gave me an invitation to a world that was previously unavailable to me—a world where policy makers and educational leaders actually wanted to know what I thought about things.  

“The award also provided a family of people who celebrated the success of others and who encouraged and cheered as other educators did innovative things. The work that I do now came 20 years after the award, but there’s a fairly direct line between what I gained from the award and the opportunity I have to create positive learning experiences for a much larger group of students.

“It’s a challenging time for teachers, to be sure, but that’s been true every year since I entered the profession in 1979, and it was true every year before that. The truth is that it’s never been more important for kids to have great teachers, and the profession has never mattered more.  That trumps everything else.  I’m more excited about kids than I’ve ever been, and great teachers are having more impact than ever. It’s an exciting time to be a teacher!”