Hoover teacher wins prestigious Milken Educator Award with $25,000 prize

A fourth-grade teacher at Rocky Ridge Elementary School today was surprised with the news that she has been named a recipient of the Milken Educator Award, a national award recognizing excellence in teaching that often is considered the equivalent of an Oscar award for movies.

A representative from the Milken Family Foundation joined state education Superintendent Eric Mackey and a host of Hoover officials and past Milken Award winners from Alabama to honor Rocky Ridge’s Kaitlin McPeake in an assembly with the entire school.

The stated reason for the assembly was to congratulate Rocky Ridge Elementary for being the third elementary school in Alabama to receive international accreditation in science, technology, engineering and math, but the surprise was the Milken Award.

“I’m just overwhelmed and floored by this. It kind of took my breath away,” McPeake said after receiving the award, which comes with a $25,000 prize. “I work with so many amazing educators, and I know there are amazing educators in this state and in this city.”

All the teachers work so hard and often don’t get a lot of recognition for it, so “to be able to be the face of education for our school and for our district — to have that honor and recognition, that just means the world,” McPeake said.

McPeake, who was the Hoover school system’s Elementary Teacher of the Year for the 2019-20 school year, has been teaching for nine years, and this is her fifth year at Rocky Ridge.

Rocky Ridge Principal Dil Uswatte, who herself won a Milken Educator Award in 2009 when she was a teacher at Berry Middle School, said McPeake is an incredible teacher who is inspiring to so many people, including her students, fellow teachers and other staff.

“She just brings that positive energy that makes you want to be a better teacher and a better person, quite frankly,” Uswatte said.

McPeake is known for using a hands-on approach to teaching that brings education to life for her students.

She started an Electrical Engineering Academy that includes multiple stations where students tackle real-life electrical problems with guidance from parents and other community members with engineering and STEM backgrounds.

Her students participate in a “Shark Tank” project, where they research, design and present products that are judged by people in the community, and she has a “Glow-ometry Day in which black lights and glow sticks bring an added dimension to geometry problems.

McPeake uses costumes, creative props and other tools to engage her students an immerse them in high-energy environments so they can learn better, and her students are required to collaborate, critique their own work and redesign solutions to problems.

She created a morning math club for grades 3-5, leading almost 100 students through math challenges before school, and has been instrumental in setting up Girls Engaged in Math and Science teams at each grade level in her school.

She meets with students to set learning goals, provides multiple pathways to meet their targets, and works hard to connect and build meaningful relationships with each child, Uswatte said.

McPeake also facilitates professional development for teachers at her school and other schools and every Monday sends an inspirational message to the entire Rocky Ridge staff to motivate them for the week.

McPeake, who struggled when she was a young student, said she uses the negative classroom experiences she had as a child to motivate her to reach every single student.

“Every day a student comes into my room, I take every moment with them to make a difference in their life and hopefully instill things so they can make a difference in others’ lives,” she said.

Jane Foley, the senior vice president for the Milken Family Foundation, came from Santa Monica, California, for today’s presentation. Foley, herself a past Milken Educator Award recipient from Indiana, said teachers don’t get enough recognition, and her organization has been working to change that since 1987.

Over the years, the group has given out $70 million in cash awards to individuals and a total of more than $140 million in funding to the awards initiative, which includes professional development opportunities throughout award recipients’ careers.

This year, the Milken Foundation is giving out more than 60 Milken Educator Awards nationally, which is double the normal amount because the COVID-19 pandemic put a hold on the effort last year, Foley said.

This morning, Foley also presented a Milken Educator Award to Kelsey Cooper, an eighth grade math teacher from Madison City Schools.

McPeake is the fifth educator associated with Hoover City Schools who has received the Milken Educator Award. Others who received it while working in Hoover schools include Assistant Superintendent Ron Dodson (who received it while at Hoover High School in 1998), Uswatte (in 2009) and Vinnie Chiaramonte (who received it while working at Bumpus Middle School in 2017). Suzanne Culbreth, a former Hoover teacher who has retired, won the Milken in 1999 while at Opelika High School.

Mackey congratulated McPeake for her accomplishment and thanked her for the way she serves students.

“It’s not just about them and their academic success,” Mackey said. It’s about pouring your life into children so they are successful people.”