LANSING, Mich. – Ms. Nina Hawkins, fifth grade teacher at Bunche Elementary School in the Detroit Public Schools, received news Wednesday of a $25,000 cash award – no strings attached - during a visit to the school from Lowell Milken, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Mike Flanagan, and members of the State Board of Education as part of the Milken Family Foundation’s National Educator Awards Program.

“Nina Hawkins is a highly committed, reflective educator who is insightful about children and learning and knows how to act on it.” Flanagan said. “She is strong, steady, and incredibly effective. There is clear evidence that she plays a solid, catalytic role in the success of her students.”

Governor Jennifer M. Granholm said: “I'm thrilled to acknowledge Ms. Hawkins ability to inspire and lead both children and adults. Her inclusion of parents in the learning process with their children is admirable. I think of the dedicated teachers of Michigan as heroes and see Ms. Hawkins as a hero among heroes.”

“She is exemplary among the 100,000 top quality educators who are teaching in Michigan," Granholm added.

Hawkins is one of only 100 teachers nationwide this year to receive the Milken National Educator Award, dubbed the “Oscars of Teaching” by Teacher Magazine. This marks the 20th anniversary of recognizing excellence in education with the Milken Family Foundation.

Research shows that the single most important school-based factor impacting student achievement is having a talented teacher in the classroom. The difference between an effective and ineffective teacher can be a full grade level of student achievement in a single year.

Award Criteria

Unlike most teaching awards, the Milken National Educator Awards have no formal nomination or application process. Educators are recommended for this prestigious honor without their knowledge by a blue-ribbon panel appointed by each state’s department of education.

Candidates for the Milken Educator Awards are selected on the basis of the following criteria:

• Exceptional educational talent as evidenced by effective instructional practices and student learning results in the classroom and school;
• Exemplary educational accomplishments beyond the classroom that provide models of excellence for the profession;
• Strong long-range potential for professional and policy leadership; and
• Engaging and inspiring presence that motivates and impacts students, colleagues and the community.

Recipients are presented with their unrestricted $25,000 award checks at the spring Milken National Education Conference in Los Angeles, California

For more information about the Milken Educator Awards, and the surprise notification events held throughout the U.S., please access the Milken Family Foundation website at www.mff.org or contact them at 310-570-4775.