COLUMBUS – A couple of Ohio teachers got some big checks for some big money on Thursday.
Math teacher Marissa McCarthy at Shanahan Middle School in Lewis Center (above) and Ryan Gilbert, 11th and 12th grade English language arts teacher at the Ohio Hi-Point Career Center in Bellefontaine (below, center), were presented with $25,000 Milken Educator Awards for their innovative teaching methods and their impact on their school and community.
Winners of the awards from the Milken Family Foundation, created by businessman and philanthropist Lowell Milken in 1987, do not apply for them and are not nominated, so the awards come as a complete surprise to the teachers as well as the students and other faculty members at their school.
The foundation recognized McCarthy for “striving to make math fun for students,” encouraging classroom and schoolwide collaboration and spending time outside of school hours providing extra assistance.
“Marissa McCarthy is dedicated to creating learning opportunities that prepare students for success. She pinpoints real-world learning connections, challenges students to advance their knowledge and engages them through relevant and fun project-based learning,” Jessica Voltolini, interim director of the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce, said.
Gilbert can be found playing the harp while sharing passages from Beowulf with his students. He also instructs them regularly on topics like general, creative and argumentative writing. He holds weekly short story workshops and uses students’ varying interests as framework for “20% Time,” or “Genius Hour.”
The cash award to elementary and secondary school teachers, principals, and specialists from around the country who are furthering excellence in education is unrestricted and the foundation says past recipients have used the money on their children’s or their own continuing education, financing dream field trips, establishing scholarships, and even adopting children.