Two Virginia K-12 Educators Receive $25,000 Milken Awards
Richmond and Prince William County Teachers Honored

Video of 2007 Milken Family Foundation
National Educator Award Announcements

A Richmond middle school science teacher and a Prince William County high school mathematics teacher each received $25,000 awards today from the Milken Family Foundation. Superintendent of Public Instruction Billy K. Cannaday Jr. and Milken Family Foundation Senior Vice President Jane Foley presented the awards during surprise assemblies at each winner’s school.

“Each day these teachers show their commitment to their students and their belief in excellence in education,” said Dr. Cannaday. “Today they are receiving recognition for making a profound difference in the lives of Virginia students through the Milken Family Foundation’s National Educator Awards program.”

The Milken Family Foundation National Educator Awards are designed to reward and provide recognition for elementary and secondary school teachers, principals, and other education professionals who promote excellence and innovation in public education. The 2007 Virginia recipients are:

• Kimberly L. Colbert , a biology and life science teacher at Fred D. Thompson Middle School in Richmond. As the science department’s lead teacher, she helped students move Thompson Middle’s 44 percent pass rate to 95 percent in one year. Ms. Colbert also serves on the school’s Virginia Grade Level Assessment Team which designs lessons and assessments to enable students with disabilities to demonstrate mastery of content. She is the Thompson Middle School 2007 Teacher of the Year and received the Richmond City Public Schools 2006-2007 Technology Integration Award. Ms. Colbert earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Richmond.

• Amy Macaleer, a mathematics teacher at Prince William County’s Battlefield High School in Haymarket. Her success in teaching is evidenced by the average score of four out of five — compared with the world mean of 3.73 — earned by her Advanced Placement calculus students. Ms. Macaleer was a nominee for the Washington Post Agnes Meyer Outstanding Teacher Award. She received her bachelor’s degree from James Madison University and master’s degree from George Mason University. Ms. Macaleer is currently pursuing a doctorate at George Washington University.

Ms. Colbert and Ms. Macaleer join 27 other Virginia educators who have been recognized with the prestigious Milken Educator Awards since Virginia began participating in 1999.

Educators are recommended for the Milken Family Foundation National Educator Award without their knowledge by a blue-ribbon panel appointed by each participating state’s department of education. Identification and selection procedures for the awards are confidential and the program does not include a formal nomination or application process. Recipients of the awards are selected on the basis of numerous criteria, including:

• Exceptional educational talent as evidenced by student achievement and outstanding instructional practices in the classroom, school, and profession;
• Outstanding accomplishments and strong long-range potential for professional and policy leadership; and
• Engaging and inspiring presence that motivates and impacts students, colleagues, and the community at-large.

The Milken Family Foundation National Educator Awards were established in 1985. The awards program, dubbed “the Oscars of Teaching” by Teacher Magazine, is the largest of its kind in the country. Since the inception of the program, the Milken Family Foundation has distributed more than $58 million in awards to more than 2,300 educators in 48 states and the District of Columbia. This month, more than 80 new recipients from across the country are being announced in surprise assemblies at their schools. This year’s award winners will receive their unrestricted $25,000 prizes in spring 2008 at the Milken Family Foundation National Education Conference in Los Angeles .

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