MONTICELLO -- When Emily Howard joined the teaching staff at Drew Central Elementary School six years ago, she shared an impactful program she had learned in her previous workplace.
The Positive Behavioral Interventions and Support program includes fostering a classroom culture of positive behavior, discouraging negative behavior; finding out underlying issues that cause disruptive behavior; and providing one-on-one support for individuals who need it.
Howard's enthusiastic willingness to share her experience and focus on children led the Milken Family Foundation to spot Drew Central Elementary on the map as a destination for the Milken Educator Awards' 2022-23 coast-to-coast tour.
The foundation named Howard as a Milken Educator Award winner at an announcement Thursday in south Arkansas.
The award honors outstanding educators with $25,000 individual financial prizes; membership in a national Milken Educator network; and personalized coaching and support from a Milken Educator veteran on ways to elevate their skills and take an active role in educational leadership, policy and practice.
In naming her a Milken Educator Award winner, the foundation cited Howard's ability to create a classroom community where students build confidence, become engaged in their schoolwork and develop a love of learning. Such practices have resulted in consistent growth in literacy and mathematics, with the majority of students ending the year working at grade level.
"My students, I love every single one of them, they are so special to me," Howard said after the surprise announcement in the school gymnasium, attended by Arkansas Education Secretary Jacob Oliva and Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, among others.
"I have two kiddos of my own and so when I look into their little faces, I pray every single night that they have educators that want to invest in them and love on them and care for them and care about their education and their well-being, and so I want to be that for everybody else's kids," Howard said.
Howard serves on her school's instructional leadership team, helping to plan and lead weekly professional learning communities.
"We're constantly watching and scouring the country for those educators that are really rising to the top," said National Institute for Excellence in Teaching CEO Joshua Barnett, who represented the Milken Family Foundation on Thursday.
Barnett explained that candidates are sourced through a confidential selection process, then reviewed by panels appointed by state departments of education, with the most exceptional candidates recommended for the award and final approval made by the foundation.
"It goes through an exhaustive set of review process to make sure that we're really selecting the top educator in the state of Arkansas for this year," he said.
The foundation said Howard was a trusted resource for fellow educators at her school, and her classroom served as a model for policymakers to see such programs as the Reading Initiative for Student Excellence in action. Additionally, the foundation praised Howard's advocacy of parental involvement in their child's education.
The states and identities of the educators are kept secret until the announcements are made.
To celebrate, Gov. Sanders called Howard's father and sister to notify them of the award after the assembly.
Howard said her sister's pursuit of education and her father's work as a pastor inspired her to want to "pour into kids."
Sanders told the Milken Foundation media after the announcement that it's important to honor "people of this profession" and that they do "some of the hardest work of any person in the country."
"I love the fact that we are honoring teachers and rewarding them and doing so in such a public way ... [It] encourages some of our best and brightest teachers to keep going, knowing that there are people out there that believe in them, appreciate them and respect the work they put in."
Oliva said of Sanders that her presence in Drew County on Thursday showed commitment to achieving her goal of being regarded as an "education governor."
"By interacting with students, teachers, and faculty members here today is evidence that she takes this seriously," he said.
He concluded by saying that it's important to "take a moment to celebrate" a teacher who "has an impact" on both her students and other teachers.
"You can tell by her passion and energy and commitment to students that it's contagious," Oliva said. "To be here to recognize her in this special environment is something that we take seriously and we're grateful to be a part of."
Since 1987 more than $140 million, including $70 million for the individual cash awards, has been devoted to the overall Milken Educator Awards initiative. A total of 78 Arkansas educators have received a Milken Award.
CORRECTION: A total of 78 Arkansas educators have received a Milken Award. An earlier version of this story gave an incorrect number.
Emily Howard (left), a third-grade teacher at Drew Central Elementary, talks with Secretary of Education Jacob Oliva (right) at the school in Monticello on Thursday after Howard was named a Milken Educator Award winner. More photos at arkansasonline.com/224milken/. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Thomas Metthe)Gallery: 2023 Milken Educator Award winner
