South Carolina teachers travel to Washington
to receive national recognition, $25,000 checks
Two South Carolina educators will travel to Washington this week to accept Milken Family Foundation National Educator Awards and the accompanying unrestricted financial prizes of $25,000 each.
The Milken Family Foundation National Education Conference comprises three days of workshops and presentations by nationally recognized scholars, educators, and government and business leaders. It will culminate Thursday night with an elegant awards banquet where foundation leaders Lowell and Michael Milken will hand out $25,000 checks to 100 recipients from South Carolina and 48 other states – a total of $2.5 million.
South Carolina’s newest Milken educators learned of their selection last fall when State Superintendent of Education Inez Tenenbaum made surprise visits to each of their schools. Daryl Brown, principal of Carvers Bay High School in rural Georgetown County, and Mary Nell Anthony, a teacher at T.L. Hanna High School in Anderson District 5, had no idea that they were being considered for the honor.
“It was so exciting to surprise these two wonderful educators last fall, and I’m honored to accompany them to Washington and be with them on their special night,” Tenenbaum said. “They represent the best of the outstanding professionals who work in South Carolina’s schools.”
Respected as one of the premier seminars in K-12 education, the Milken conference engages educators and policy leaders in intensive workshops, panel discussions and professional development opportunities designed to propel effective teaching into greater student achievement. The conference and Thursday night’s black-tie gala will be held at Washington’s Renaissance Hotel.
The Milken National Educator Awards, created by Foundation Chairman Lowell Milken, has become the nation’s largest teacher recognition program. Since the program’s inception, nearly 2,100 educators from 48 states have been recognized with $54 million in cash awards.
In South Carolina’s nine years in the program, there have been 41 National Educator Award recipients and cash awards totaling more than $1 million.
Selection of Milken recipients alternates annually between elementary and secondary educators. This year’s recipients are middle and high school educators; next year’s recipients will be elementary school educators.
The Milken Educator Awards are designed to give public recognition and financial reward to outstanding K-12 teachers, principals and other education professionals who make important contributions to excellence in education. The program’s goal is to elevate the entire profession by increasing public recognition and support of outstanding educators.
Recipients also join the Milken Educator Network, a coalition of more than 2,000 top educators who have access to a variety of expert resources to help cultivate and expand innovative programs in their classrooms, schools and districts.
Based on guidelines established by the Foundation, the State Department of Education appoints an independent panel that is responsible for selecting each year’s recipients. The process of identifying and selecting recipients is confidential. The program includes neither an application nor a nomination procedure.
Profiles of South Carolina’s Milken Award recipients
Mary Nell Anthony (T.L. Hanna High School, Anderson District 5) – This English and language arts teacher offers a rigorous classroom environment. She cares about each student, often conducting after-hours study sessions at a local bookstore or library. She provides a web site that contains study guides and help for struggling readers and writers. Her teaching strategies include group projects, Socratic seminars and literary circles. Mindful that all students do not have the same advantages, she provides index cards, paper, notebooks and other supplies to those in need. Her students routinely earn high SAT scores and have a 96 percent passing rate for her college-level classes. This National Board Certified teacher and former District Teacher of the Year often quotes Benjamin Franklin, who was known for starting his morning schedule with the question, “What good can I do today?” Anthony was graduated from Anderson College with a bachelor of Arts in Secondary Education English and received a master of arts in Education with a concentration in School Leadership from Furman University.
Daryl Brown (Principal, Carvers Bay High School, Georgetown County) – Known as a team player who stresses excellence in academics as well as sports, Brown oversaw the difficult task of combining two rival high schools, Pleasant Hill and Choppee. Colleagues say it was the sheer force of his personality and planning that created a smooth transition. Band Director Ashley Thomas remembers what Brown did on the first day of class: “He held up a news article that said that we wouldn’t be a successful school. He said that we were going to prove them wrong and be a blue ribbon school. The students got up and cheered.” The school has won a state football championship and a state track championship, and has also made impressive gains on the SAT and added AP classes. He also started an agriculture and ROTC program. Carvers Bay High was rated Excellent in both the Absolute and Improvement categories on its most recent School Report Card.. Brown graduated from Clemson University and also earned an M.Ed. in Educational Administration as well as a Masters + 30 from the University of South Carolina.
Educators are recommended for this prestigious honor without their knowledge by a blue-ribbon panel appointed by each state’s department of education. Recipients of the Milken Educator Awards are selected on the basis of numerous criteria, including:
· Exceptional educational talent as evidenced by outstanding instructional practices in the classroom, school and profession.
· Outstanding accomplishments and strong long-range potential for professional and policy leadership.
· Engaging and inspiring presence that motivates and impacts students, colleagues and the community at-large.
The Milken Family Foundation was established in 1982 as a private philanthropic institution dedicated to discovering and advancing inventive ways to build human resources. The Foundation, which creates and operates its own programs as well as providing financial support to other non-profit organizations, is involved primarily in three areas: education, medical research and health care, and community and human welfare. For more information, visit the foundation’s web site (www.mff.org).