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Trick and Treat for a New Educator from Alaska

Dear Champions of Education,

There’s no disguising it: Every day is Teacher Appreciation Day at the Milken Family Foundation, even Halloween. So this Halloween, Dr. Jane Foley and the Milken Educator Awards team traveled to Alaska to induct our newest Milken Educator Molly Yerkes.

The faculty, student body of Dzantik'i Heeni Middle School and Principal Molly herself were “tricked” into thinking that this was a (well-deserved) assembly in honor of the great strides they’ve been making. The honor they received turned out to be a much greater “treat” than they imagined.

It was an inspiring day for Molly and the VIPs in attendance, including school board representatives, local politicians and four veteran Milken Educators there to welcome their new peer:  Patricia Holman (AK '92), Jacqueline Kookesh (AK '91), Nancy Norman (AK '94), Lyle Sparrowgrove, Jr. (AK '95) and Keith Zamudio (AK '98). The students were pretty inspired, too. Who knows, maybe next Halloween some of them will come dressed as their favorite teacher. After all, $25,000 buys a lot of Halloween candy!

Find out why Molly was chosen to be our newest Milken Educator by reading her profile. Then watch her reaction in the video and get more of the story in the costume-laden photos from the event.

Hoping you all had a safe and inspired Halloween,
Boris Kievsky
Newsletter Editor
Manager, Online Communications and Engagement
Milken Family Foundation