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Oct 11, 201630th Anniversary Season Starts in PA, IN, KS
We're celebrating our 30th anniversary.
For three decades, we've been traveling the country surprising outstanding educators with Milken Educator Awards and $25,000 checks. Every year, the Milken Educator Network grows as we add more amazing teachers and principals to our family.
MEA founder Lowell Milken kicked off our 30th anniversary season last week in Pennsylvania, Indiana and Kansas. Scroll down to meet the newest Milken Educators.
When Jayda Pugliese (PA '16), a fifth-grade science and math teacher at Philadelphia's Andrew Jackson School, accepted the first Milken Educator Award of the 2016-17 season from Lowell Milken, she had something important to say to students about the power of education. "You can change your life," she told them. "You can change everything that your family may or may not provide for you." A South Philly native who grew up just blocks from Andrew Jackson, Pugliese is the first in her family to graduate from high school and college. What will she do with her $25,000 Award? Pugliese plans to use the money to finish her doctoral degree.
>> Watch Jayda Pugliese's surprise notification video
>> NEW! Watch 30 years of Pennsylvania Milken Educator highlights
Aimee Schade (IN '16)
Our next stop was in Goshen, Indiana, where Lowell Milken surprised TAP Master Teacher Aimee Schade with the second Milken Educator Award of the season. At West Goshen Elementary, a diverse, high-poverty K-5 school, Schade is responsible for ensuring the learning of both students and teachers. Schade was truly shocked: "I was thinking it could be any teacher in the building," she told WSBT News in a TV interview the following morning. Schade is known for her willingness to experiment to figure out what works. She taught first, second and fourth grades and served as a TAP mentor teacher before taking on the master teacher role in 2013.
>> See Aimee Schade's notification photos
>> Watch Aimee Schade's surprise notification video
>> NEW! Watch 30 years of Indiana Milken Educator highlights
Stephanie Conklin (KS '16)
We ended the first week of our 30th anniversary season in Kansas, where PrincipalStephanie Conklin became the state's newest Milken Educator at Brougham Elementary School in Olathe. The data-driven principal has brought new reading and math programs to the school, which consistently ranks in the top five of the district's 35 elementary schools. Conklin shared a sweet moment at her surprise notification with her daughter Ava, a first-grader at Brougham.
>> See Stephanie Conklin's notification photos
>> Watch Stephanie Conklin's surprise notification video
>> NEW! Watch 30 years of Kansas Milken Educator highlights
In this newsletter: Stephanie Conklin (KS '16) , Lowell Milken , Jayda Pugliese (PA '16) , Aimee Schade (IN '16)
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