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Ohio's 64th Milken Educator, plus Spotlight on RI, CT

Dear Milken Educators and Champions of Education,

Neither snow, nor sleet, nor hail, nor freezing cold keeps us from surprising new Milken Educators across the country. Keep reading to meet Ohio's newest Milken Educator and learn more about this year's winners from Connecticut and Rhode Island.

"Despite what society may say, you have the opportunity to achieve anything and everything that you may want," an emotional Tiffany Tynes Curry (OH '16) told the students at Weinland Park Elementary School in Columbus at her surprise Milken Educator Award notification this week. "I was raised to be a statistic, but I didn't let that stop me. I put myself through school, and I know that hard work really pays off." Tynes Curry, a graduate of Columbus City Schools, transforms her third-grade students into mathematicians who develop their own theories, explain their reasoning with ease and present their methodologies to the class. Weinland Park’s fourth-graders turn in the highest performance in the division cohort for math and science, in large part due to the foundation they get the previous year with her in third grade.

See Tiffany Tynes Curry's notification photos
Watch Tiffany Tynes Curry's surprise notification video
Watch 30 years of Ohio Milken Educator highlights

First-grade teacher Manny Zaldivar (CT '16) came to the U.S. from Honduras as a teenager; he practiced his English working as an elevator operator at a New York warehouse while he continued his education. Watching their beloved teacher win Connecticut's 2016-17 Milken Award ignited a spark in Manny's young students at Smalley Academy in New Britain—so many are now interested in careers in education that Manny is starting a club for aspiring teachers.

READ MORE: Spotlight on Manny Zaldivar (CT '16)

If someone gave fourth-grade teacher Emily Caldarelli (RI '16) a million dollars, she'd use it to help her students give back to their community. "Service learning is a great way to grow empathetic, involved citizens," she says. Emily, who won Rhode Island's 2016-17 Milken Educator Award at Paul Cuffee Lower School in Providence last October, says her Aunt Barbara, an inner-city teacher, inspired her to pursue education as a career. "I could tell that she was really making a difference in those kids' lives," says Emily.

READ MORE: Spotlight on Emily Caldarelli (RI '16)