CMS elementary school teacher receives prestigious teaching award – and a $25,000 check
A Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools teacher was given a national award with a $25,000 prize Wednesday. She’s the only North Carolina educator to receive the award this year.
The Milken Educator Award was started in 1987 by philanthropist Lowell Milken to honor educators across the United States. Up to 45 people will be honored with it this year, including Vanessa Smith, a first grade teacher at Croft Community School in north Charlotte.
Students and teachers gathered for an assembly Wednesday morning, under the impression it was to welcome Derrick Jordan, North Carolina deputy state superintendent of public instruction.
Jordan was there – but the assembly wasn’t for him. Instead, Jordan and Stephanie Bishop, vice president of the Milken Educator Awards, presented Smith with a $25,000 check, as students cheered and chanted her name. CMS leaders also attended, including Superintendent Crystal Hill and Board Chair Stephanie Sneed.
“I was not expecting this at all, to say the very least,” Smith said. “The moment I heard my name, I was honestly in pure shock.”
She was selected thanks, in part, to her use of lessons personalized for her students and instructional methods tailored to their needs.
Smith splits them into small groups for more personalized learning and uses songs and chants to help them remember challenging material. Data has shown consistent, significant growth in her students’ performance.
“Every year, you’re going to have a different class, and each student has different needs,” she said. “You have to make sure that those needs are met by differentiating lessons, which just means that if a kid needs something, you make sure it’s in their lessons.
“So, you still teach to the whole group, and then you usually pull small groups to make sure that kid gets what they need.”
About Croft teacher Vanessa Smith
Smith is part of CMS’ Teacher Leader Pathway Program, which places high-impact teachers at the schools that need them the most. Educators in the program receive additional support and professional development opportunities.
Croft Community School has seen significant growth over the past year, lifting its state accountability grade from a D to a C. Last year, every student group in the school met or exceeded growth standards on state math and reading assessments, for the first time ever.
Smith said she was inspired to become a teacher because of her own first grade teacher, who made learning fun.
“I grew up in Massachusetts, in the country, so I actually got to go to a one-room schoolhouse for kindergarten and first grade,” she said. “We got to go outside. We did homemade maple syrup, but then we come back and learn about it. Even though it was educational, it was still tied to the fun part of things... I loved growing up there and having that kind of mix of fun while learning.”
She strives to focus on the things students need to learn in a way that is engaging.
“I teach because I want to make sure students have fun in their learning journey. Testing is often emphasized, but education and learning should be fun,” she said.
As a Milken Award recipient, Smith will receive not only the cash prize but also additional mentorship opportunities and an all-expenses-paid trip to the Milken Educator Awards Forum in Los Angeles in April.
Smith says she has no idea what she plans to do with the money yet – she’s still in shock. She said she’s humbled by the praise and recognition, which can be hard to come by in education.
“I think that education is a field that you don’t always get recognition in because, as a teacher... excellence is kind of expected,” she said. “So for us, even when you’re doing a good job, it’s kind of a pat on the back. You don’t actually always get recognition when you are doing a great job.”
This story was originally published December 18, 2024 at 3:02 PM.
