October 30, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Sumner Academy Teacher Receives $25,000 Milken National Educator Award

As a speech/forensics teacher, Jamelle McConnell-Brown rarely finds herself at a loss for words. But at a school assembly on Tuesday, Oct. 30, she was utterly speechless.

During the program, she was named a 2007 recipient of the $25,000 Milken Educator Award.

"I was completely in shock and just so overcome with emotion," said the four-year teacher at Sumner Academy of Arts and Science in Kansas City, Kansas.

Recognizing teachers and other education professionals who are furthering excellence in education is the goal of the Milken Family Foundation National Educator Awards program. By honoring outstanding educators, the program strives to attract, develop, motivate and retain talented people to the challenge and adventure of teaching.

Representatives of the Milken Foundation teamed up with officials from the Kansas State Department of Education, Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius, members of the KCK Board of Education and administrators from the Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools (KCKPS) to surprise McConnell-Brown with the award. When her name was announced, she received immense applause and students began to chant, "Ms. Brown, Ms. Brown, Ms. Brown, Ms. Brown."

This is McConnell-Brown's eighth year as a KCKPS teacher. Teaching has been her passion since she was a young girl.

"While all the other kids were out riding their bikes, I was playing school," she said.

Because her mother was a teacher, McConnell-Brown spent a good deal of time around educators and schools while she was growing up, and she fondly remembers helping her mother prepare her classroom before the start of a new school year.

She said her favorite part about teaching is watching her students excel.

"As a teacher, I strongly believe that all students can learn and that all students have unique gifts that are waiting to be challenged and developed," McConnell-Brown said. "It is my job to help students develop their strengths and gifts. It gives me great joy, pleasure and excitement to see my students succeed."

It's McConnell-Brown's teaching method that attracts students and guides them to success, according to Dr. Mary Viveros, principal at Sumner Academy.

"Ms. Brown sets high expectations in her classroom, but she also has a great rapport with the students," Viveros said. "She fosters an environment of trust and performance and brings out the best in kids."

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

Candidates 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.

As a Milken Award recipient, McConnell-Brown joins the Milken Educator Network, a group of more than 2,300 distinguished educators, whose expertise serves as a valuable resource to fellow educators. She will receive her $25,000 award check at the annual Milken National Education Conference, an all-expenses paid professional development conference, this spring in Los Angeles, Calif.