Milken Family Foundation National Education Conference: How Stakeholders Can Support Teacher Quality

Humbled and anxious are two words that describe how I felt when I attended the first session at the Milken Family Foundation National Education Conference two years ago. Even though the faces were all new to me, I quickly became comfortable because I realized that as educators, we all shared the same passions. We all strive to make our schools and classrooms a positive learning experience for our students and do everything possible to help them reach their potential. The Conference was an incredible experience and each educator I met had an inspirational story to share. Lowell and Michael Milken, as well as all the people associated with the Foundation, took time to talk with me and make me feel a part of a special group of people. It was then that I realized that I could do more than be a good teacher for my students, I could work towards making sure every student in the country has a great teacher every year! And so my quest began.

Receiving the Milken Educator Award provided me with two important things: resources and confidence. I found myself being invited to attend conferences and meetings with other award-winning teachers in the state, and important people listened as we talked about teacher leadership.  The program coordinator of the Milken Educator Awards became a valuable resource by recommending me for professional opportunities that capitalized on my skills and abilities as well as offering support and advice whenever I needed it. Keeping in touch with other Milken Educators through the listserve provided the chance to learn from the best. When I wanted to apply for a Festival for Youth grant, I contacted other recipients through email to find out what makes a successful project. I met with other Milken Educators in my state and attended subsequent notification assemblies.

I began to realize that as a Milken Educator I had the ability to make a real difference. Once I had attended workshops; now I was presenting at workshops. In the past, I read about best practices; now authors were contacting me, asking me to contribute my stories to books that they were writing about best practices. Instead of being weary of change, I started to embrace change. I changed jobs. I left my job as a classroom teacher (for 13 years) in a small,affluent community to take a position as a staff developer in a large, very diverse school. Once my passion was to help students to become the best they could be; now my passion is to help teachers become the best they can be, because every student deserves the best teacher every year!

For more information on the Conference—including the agenda, bios of Conference presenters, photos and videos—please visit the Milken Family Foundation Web site at www.mff.org

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• #1 Comment from alfonsojay 
  7/10/06 7:02 PM | Permalink

  By AOLTECHJYA (this is only for a testing purposes)
  
  Thank you.