A kindergarten teacher from Cabell County is the winner of this year’s Milken Educator Award.
The $25,000 prize was presented to Whitney Stead at Village of Barboursville Elementary School on Thursday.
Stead had twins three months ago and has been on maternity leave. She was called to the school for what she was told was a mandatory assembly.
“When they were talking about a teacher at our school who would be getting the award, I was looking around the gym at all of the other teachers who are wonderful at our school thinking, ‘Maybe it’s that one, maybe it’s that one,'” Stead said.
“I was just floored when they announced my name.”
Stead, whose husband is also teacher, teaches kindergarten in Barboursville alongside her mother who was her own kindergarten teacher.
“Every day, my job is so exciting, especially in kindergarten, because they’re learning something new. I have the pleasure of getting teach children to read which is extremely rewarding,” Stead said on Thursday’s MetroNews Talkline.
“The first time that you see a child sound out a word and figure out the word and their little face lights up and their eyes twinkle, it’s amazing when they realize that they can read and they’re so proud of it. I love that part of my job.”
Lowell Milken created the Milken Educator Awards in 1985 to “celebrate, elevate and activate” excellence in the profession. Since then, more than 2,500 teachers, principals and specialists across the United States have been recognized.
Milken officials say the award is not designed to serve as recognition for lifetime achievement, instead it spotlights those in the early or middle stages of their education careers.
Stead, for example, has been teaching for seven years.
There is no application or nomination process for the Milken Educator Award. Each state’s Board of Education forms an independent panel to make recommendations to the Milken Family Foundation.