YOUNGSTOWN — Kimberly Alexander Carlo figured Wednesday would be just like any other day teaching at Lewiston-Porter Middle School. She definitely wasn’t expecting recognition from what is regarded as the “Oscars of Education.”
The seventh grade science teacher has been named one of this year’s 75 Milken Educator Award recipients, and the only one from New York state. She was awarded $25,000 and the chance to fly out to Los Angeles in June to meet with the other honorees.
The announcement came with State Commissioner of Education Betty Rosa and Milken Senior Program Director Greg Gallagher in attendance along with the Lew-Port Middle School student body in the district high school auditorium.
“I was like, was it actually my name?” Alexander Carlo said, thinking the assembly was about anti-bullying and social and emotion learning programs. “Maybe that wasn’t my name. Am I imagining this?”
A Lew-Port teacher for eight years, Alexander Carlo was the valedictorian of the school’s class of 2011, receiving her Master of Science in middle childhood and adolescent education from Niagara University in 2017. She helped establish a CREW program in the district, a daily social and emotional learning block built into student’s schedules, and presented at a statewide conference on research-supported instructional practices.
In her science classes, Alexander Carlo has her students run experiments through developing their own hypotheses and adjusting along the way by using evidence from their experiments.
“I’m really excited about science,” Alexander Carlo said. “I try to show that to them so that they feel comfortable being excited about science. More importantly, I try to get to know them and build a relationship with them.”
The Milken Family Foundation was founded in 1982, starting the Milken Educator Awards in 1987 to recognize outstanding educators and to encourage young people to consider a career in education. Since then, nearly 3,000 educators have been recognized and nearly $75 million in individual financial prizes awarded.
Gallagher said they do not use an application or nomination process. The foundation has a blue ribbon panel that goes out across the country to find these educators, which helps maintain the surprise element of the award.
“We know that this is just the beginning for her,” Gallagher said. “This is about the potential of the leadership she shows going forward.”
As part of the award, Alexander Carlo will join the 75 other recognized teachers for an all-expenses paid trip to the Milken Educator Awards Forum in Los Angeles. There, she will network with other such educators on how to broaden the impact of K-12 education. The $25,000 can be used in any way.
“I’m excited to learn more about the program,” Alexander Carlo said, wanting to talk to the other educators and bring strategies and resources back for her students.