Milken Family Foundation
Last fall, Erica Stephens, a fourth grade math teacher at John P. Freeman Optional School, was attending what she thought was a school assembly.
She had been told that the assembly was going to be held in honor of the school’s recognition as a reward school. But when she saw Lowell Milken, chairman of the Milken Family Foundation, walk out onto the gymnasium floor, she knew someone was about to get a Milken Educator Award.
“I was really taken aback,” she says. “I knew that the Milken Award was a teacher award because I recalled watching someone in the Texas area winning the same award on TV. So I started trying to record the teacher who was getting this award.”
This prestigious accolade, often referred to as the “Oscar of Teaching,” is awarded to up to 40 teachers throughout the country each year to thank them for their outstanding work as unsung heroes. Milken began listing the qualities of the teacher who was about to win the award, and her students knew exactly who the award recipient was going to be: her.
“They kept saying, ‘Oh, that’s you, Ms. Stephens,’” she says. “I kept telling them, ‘Be quiet! I’m trying to record this for somebody!’” Lo and behold, her name was called, and she couldn’t believe it.
“I was overjoyed, I was in disbelief, and I was thankful,” says Stephens. “As a teacher, we know the work we do is important, but it’s a thankless profession, and we don’t always get that pat on the back, saying, ‘Hey, you’re doing a great job.’”
The award also came with a check for $25,000, which meant she would be able to take her family on vacation to spend some much-needed time with them. “I wanted to be sure that I used that opportunity to totally focus on my family and on spending time together,” she says. “If my family were not understanding of me being a teacher and the time that I put in to teach, I wouldn’t have been recognized as the Milken educator. My children know that they are very important to me, but they also know that they share me with my students.”
In the classroom, Stephens considers her teaching method to be flexible, saying she tries to meet her students where they are in order to best teach them skills and concepts in math.
Milken Family Foundation
“I’m really kind of reflective,” says Stephens. “I’m very into what the students want to learn. I present the lesson, and then I lean into the students to ask how they would like to learn. I’ll ask them, ‘Would you like to work with a partner? Or would you prefer to work on your own?’”
Stephens is always coming up with fun and engaging lesson plans and activities for students, like having them write math problems in highlighter under a blacklight or compete against each other using board games they or other students have created.
“Anything I can think of, I will try it with my students to get them engaged,” she says. “And we’re teaching them healthy competition because we want our students to be globally competitive.”
Stephens, who also works with the STEM club, loves seeing students joining clubs and becoming interested in new things like how robots work. “Our students are very different,” she says. “They are interesting. They have their own intrinsic value. They want to learn, and they want to be the best that they can be.”
Stephens is a true believer in the growth mindset and has learned that everyone — including her students, colleagues, and herself — always has room for growth. “I feel like that’s what we should be doing every day,” she says. “It’s not about where you start, it’s about where you end.”
In her 17 years of teaching, Stephens has acquired three good rules of thumb that she’d like to share with other teachers. “Be flexible,” she says. “Don’t be afraid to ask others for help. And try to stay positive.”
We want to shine a light on your child’s teacher, or even a teacher who made a difference in your life. Submit your nomination today by emailing teacher@memphisparent.com.