BENTONVILLE -- Kamisha Burlingame, a fourth-grade teacher at Thomas Jefferson Elementary School, was surprised at a school assembly Wednesday with a Milken Educator Award and $25,000.
The event was part of a nationwide tour honoring more than 60 outstanding elementary and secondary educators, according to a news release. The award is given to inspirational and transformational teachers, and includes an unrestricted $25,000 prize.
The award was announced in front of cheering students, teachers and local and state education officials. Greg Gallagher, Milken Educator Awards senior program director; and Stacy Smith, deputy commissioner of the Arkansas Division of Elementary and Secondary Education; were on hand to recognize Burlingame as a model teacher for the state and nation.
Burlingame is the first educator from the Bentonville School District to receive a Milken Educator Award, and the first from Northwest Arkansas since Kara Davis -- then a teacher at Mathias Elementary School in Rogers -- won the award in 2016.
Burlingame is always looking for ways to engage her fourth-graders, according to a news release from the Milken Family Foundation.
"Students can't wait to get to school to see how she has transformed their classroom," the release states. "One day it's an airplane, with Burlingame in full pilot's uniform, so students can work on reading responses from the clouds. Sometimes the classroom turns into a football field, or a meadow strewn with picnic blankets for a 'book tasting.' At the end of a unit on biographies, students picked a person to research, dressed as their subjects, and shared presentations with visitors who toured the classroom 'gallery.'"
Educators cannot apply for Milken Educator Awards and do not even know they are under consideration, according to a release. Candidates are sourced through a confidential selection process, then reviewed by blue ribbon panels appointed by state departments of education, it states. Those most exceptional are recommended for the award, with final approval by the Milken Family Foundation.
The idea for the Milken Educator Awards started in the early 1980s when Lowell Milken, the chairman and co-founder of the Milken Family Foundation, began exploring strategies for strengthening the education profession. The first awards were presented to a group of 12 outstanding teachers and administrators in California in 1987.
Since then, more than $140 million, including $70 million for the individual cash awards, has been devoted to the overall Milken Awards initiative, which includes powerful professional development opportunities throughout recipients' careers.
"One talented educator can change the trajectory of a student's life," said Lowell Milken, Milken Educator Awards creator and co-founder of the Milken Family Foundation. "Milken Educators lead the young people in their classrooms and schools to achieve academically, while preparing them to make the most of life's opportunities. These past two years have reinforced the pivotal role of our nation's educators, who serve on the front lines of accelerating learning and addressing the well-being of our students."
More information is available at milkeneducatorawards.org.
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There have now been 15 winners of the Milken Educator Award from Northwest Arkansas schools:
2016: Kara Davis, Mathias Elementary School (Rogers)
2011: Andrea McKenna, Kelly Middle School (Springdale)
2007: Margaret McClure, Lingle Middle School (Rogers)
2006: Justin Minkel, Jones Elementary School (Springdale)
2003: Melissa Miller, Lynch Middle School (Farmington)
2001: Steven Long, Rogers High School
2001: Gary Stark, Tyson Middle School (Springdale)
1997: Sara Ford, Kelly Middle School (Springdale)
1996: Kimberly Mason, Tillery Elementary School (Rogers)
1993: Rosemary Faucette, Woodland Junior High School (Fayetteville)
1993: Don Love, Springdale High School
1992: Linda Childers Knapp, Smith Elementary School (Springdale)
1992: Silas Granderson, Elmwood Middle School (Rogers)
1991: Thomas Williams, Fayetteville High School
Source: MilkenEducatorAwards.org