Videos

Award Notification: LaKeshia Ames (VA '12)

Featured in this video: LaKeshia Ames (VA '12)

Portsmouth, VA | Oct 17, 2012
Churchland Primary and Intermediate School

Teacher LaKeshia Ames of Portsmouth, VA, Is Stunned with Milken Educator Award

Fourth-grade teacher LaKeshia Ames is known for using rap and rhyme to engage her students at Churchland Primary and Intermediate School in Portsmouth, Virginia. Today, LaKeshia had more to sing about when she was surprised with a $25,000 Milken Educator Award by State Superintendent of Public Instruction Dr. Patricia I. Wright and Milken Educator Awards Senior Vice President Dr. Jane Foley. Thanks to her innovative teaching, LaKeshia’s students are "chart-toppers" themselves: their proficiency ratings soar above state averages in reading and math, according to State Standards of Learning (SOL) data for the 2011-2012 school year. "I am just overwhelmed, excited and happy," said LaKeshia to a room packed with cheering faculty members and students. "I am going to keep doing what I do every day for the students and for education."