Two local educators got the surprise of a lifetime Friday when they were presented with $25,000 awards known as the “Oscars of teaching.”
Tamarah Danzy, science teacher and cheer coach at the Union 8th Grade Center, and Aubrey Flowers, principal at Tulsa’s Council Oak Elementary School, were named Milken Educator Award winners in front of their entire school communities.
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Flowers called her school together in the morning for an assembly she had been led to think was about the Council Oak student body’s achieving an attendance rate of 94%.
She looked on as Greg Gallagher, senior program director at the Milken Family Foundation, announced that he was there to surprise one lucky educator at the school with an award that comes with cash and a host of professional development resources.
He said the Milken Foundation believes educators should be recognized with the equivalent of a Heisman Trophy — or an Emmy or an Academy Award.
“You can’t apply, and we don’t accept nominations — we find you,” said Gallagher, who called up student volunteers to hold up cards with numerals that initially added up to $2,500.
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As students and teachers assembled in the Council Oak auditorium cheered, Gallagher called up Oklahoma State Superintendent Joy Hofmeister, who held up another card — with another zero on it — and the auditorium went wild.
When Hofmeister called out Flowers’ name, her jaw dropped in shock, and she said, “What?” several times as she stood and was asked to pose with an oversized check with her name printed across the front.
“I’m not a cryer, but look at me!” Flowers told her cheering school community. “It is my joy to come every morning to come see you and to see your teachers. If this helps bring light to honor how amazing you are — my big kisses to you. Who wants to go to recess?”
The same song and dance by Gallagher and Hofmeister in an afternoon assembly at the Union 8th Grade Center in Broken Arrow caused Danzy to double over in tears before she could cross the gymnasium in front of her students and colleagues to receive her own oversized check.
“I do not teach for the money I get,” she said, fighting back tears. “I try to make a difference and build those relationships with these babies and hope that they take it and that they’re a better person in the future.”
Who was the first person she was going to call?
“My dad. He’s a retired educator and going through cancer,” she said, referring to Primus Moore. “I’m going to cry. He was my middle school principal when I was a kid in McAlester Public Schools, and he is 100% my full inspiration and role model.”
Danzy, who has been a teacher for 14 years, said her first thoughts about how to spend the unexpected windfall were for the educational needs of her own three children.
Back at Council Oak, students filed outside after the announcement, and some faculty members hung back and then took turns wrapping a stunned Flowers in big hugs.
Flowers, who has been Council Oak principal for five years, told reporters that it was attending to a teacher’s needs that raced through her mind as she listened to Gallagher explain the real reason for the assembly.
“I was thinking we have to order lunch for this teacher. How do we get them out of class the rest of the day to enjoy this moment?” she said, laughing. “Never in a million years (did I think it was me). We don’t do this work to be out in front.”
Danzy and Flowers are among 63 educators nationwide being honored with Milken Educator Awards in 2021-22 and the only two honorees in Oklahoma.
For 35 years, the Milken Family Foundation has honored top educators around the country with $25,000 unrestricted awards. The Milken Educator Awards program targets early- to mid-career educators for impressive achievements and provides them access to networking and development tools to further their careers in education.
More than 2,800 awards have been given to date, totaling $70 million.
Flowers was identified for driving significant growth in Council Oak’s already good student achievement rates in reading and math since her arrival there in 2017 and for helping to lead and build consensus and respect within the school community during the process to rename it from its previous moniker for the Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.
Her adaptation of the school’s virtual learning strategy during school closures in 2020 to better accommodate the needs of younger students who were struggling to focus and engage was also noted by the Milken Foundation.
“As an innovative leader who inspires and empowers her teachers to meet the individual learning needs of each student, she nurtures a school culture centered on creativity, patience and growth,” Hofmeister said. “We are so proud to have Aubrey represent Oklahoma on the national stage as a Milken Educator.”
Danzy was noted for regularly incorporating reading, writing and technology skills into her science lessons and for boosting student learning and engagement by offering students choices.
Hofmeister called Danzy a model teacher in Oklahoma.
“She prepares her young learners to be ready for college and career through engaging, hands-on lessons that they can build on in high school, and she challenges them to research and discover on their own.”
Throwback Tulsa: Teachers rally at the Oklahoma Capitol and around the state in 2018
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andrea.eger@tulsaworld.com
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