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New Beginnings

Dear Milken Educators and Champions of Education,

We love so many things about the start of a new school year. Clean backpacks. Pristine whiteboards. Neat desktops, both actual and virtual. And, most important, a new crop of young faces whose hopes, dreams and ambitions remain in our hands until summer rolls around once more.

The new school year also marks the start of the Milken Educator Awards season. Yesterday Milken Family Foundation Chairman and Co-Founder Lowell Milken presented this year’s very first award to Jessica Cunningham, principal at KIPP DC College Preparatory in Washington, DC. Overcome with emotion, Cunningham wiped away tears as she accepted her surprise award and thanked the MFF team, her KIPP DC colleagues and the school’s student body.

We’re looking forward to a year of surprises as we travel around the country recognizing outstanding educators and welcoming them into the ranks of veteran Milken Educators. Watch the video above to hear Lowell kick off this year’s awards season.

Jessica Cunningham Receives First Milken Award of 2015-16 Season

It’s hard to get anything past the principal, but Jessica Cunningham really had no idea the school had assembled in her honor. She thought everyone was gathering for an official ribbon-cutting ceremony to inaugurate formally the school’s brand-new, state-of-the-art facility, a building whose construction Cunningham oversaw. (The ribbon was intact when we left, despite the huge pair of scissors leaning against the wall.) See the notification ceremony unfold in our photo gallery.

#MyTeacherRocks Instagram Contest

We’re doing something new this year to spread the excitement about the Milken Educator Awards via social media: an Instagram selfie contest. Students (or parents of younger students) enter by posting selfies of student and teacher using the hashtags #MilkenAward and #MyTeacherRocks. We’ll be giving out three prizes of $500 each to use in the teacher’s classroom. Read the full details and rules, make sure you’re following us on Instagram @milkenfamilyfdn, and please encourage your students to enter and share!

A NOTE FROM THE EDITOR: I'm new to the Milken Family Foundation (and delighted to be here!). I'm now handling the website, newsletter and social media for the Milken Educator Awards. I look forward to getting to know you all.

Erika Penzer Kerekes
Social Media and Online Content Manager

What do YOU want to see in this newsletter? I'd like to know. Reach out anytime: ekerekes@mff.org or 310-570-4771.