This Raleigh educator just won the ‘Oscars of teaching’ — and its $25,000 prize
An outdoor school assembly turned into an unexpected $25,000 prize on Friday for Victoria Lightfoot, an instructional math coach at Millbrook Elementary School in Raleigh.
In front of a crowd of cheering students and teachers, Lightfoot learned that she had won the prestigious Milken Educator Award. The award has been called the “Oscars of Teaching” and brings national recognition and a $25,000 cash prize.
“I feel like I’m dreaming,” Lightfoot said after being surprised with the news Friday. “I’m waiting for someone to pinch me.”
But those at the award ceremony said it reflects how Lightfoot is considered to be one of the best teachers in the nation.
“She is student-driven, and I just can’t say how proud I am of her,” said State Superintendent Catherine Truitt. “This is a very proud day for Raleigh, for Wake County Public Schools and for North Carolina. You are a credit to your profession.”
‘Best of the best’
Since 1987, the California-based Milken Family Foundation has given $70 million in individual financial prizes to more than 2,800 educators. The foundation suspended the awards during the pandemic but has been going around the nation to give them as part of Teacher Appreciation Week.
Lightfoot is one of only 60 U.S. teachers — two in North Carolina — to win the award this year. Justin Scarbro, a Guilford County high school teacher, won the award in February.
“You can’t apply for this award,” said Stephanie Bishop, vice president of the Milken Educator Awards. “You don’t find us. We find you, and we search all over the country to find the best of the best.”
Tiffany Palmer was the last Wake County teacher to win the award in 2012 when she was at Timber Drive Elementary in Garner. Palmer, who attended Friday’s ceremony, said Lightfoot will have plenty of new job opportunities as a result of the award.
“My advice to her is to stay true to herself and follow wherever her heart leads her within the education world,” said Palmer, who is now a 4th-grade teacher at Oakview Elementary in Holly Springs. “I know mine is just in the classroom with students every single day. That’s where I want to be.”
‘I won the lotto’
There are no restrictions on how winners can use their $25,000 prize. Past winners have used the prize for things such as financing dream field trips, establishing scholarships and adopting children, according to the foundation.
Lightfoot said she may use the money to buy a car or put a down payment on a house.
“It feels great, especially when it’s unexpected,” Lightfoot said in an interview. “It’s like I won the lotto.”
Lightfoot, 34, has been a teacher for 12 years, all of them in the Wake County school system.
The foundation says it’s not meant to be a lifetime achievement honor.
Instead, the award honors early to mid-career teachers for what they have achieved — and for the promise of what they will accomplish.
‘A prestigious honor’
Lightfoot was a third-grade teacher at Cedar Fork Elementary in Morrisville before joining Millbrook Elementary this school year.
Lightfoot helps coach Millbrook’s teachers on how to teach math to their students. She also helps write math curriculum for the district and helps lead professional development activities.
Like teachers across the nation, Lightfoot has had to navigate educating students during the pandemic.
“It has been a whirlwind,” Lightfoot said. “But I remember someone said to me ‘great teaching is great teaching no matter what platform you are on.’
“Whether you’re in person or on a computer or you’re hybrid teaching like I did last year. You know what instructional moves to make.”
Last school year, Lightfoot was one of the Wake school system’s 10 finalists for Teacher of the Year. Despite the recognition she’s received over the years, Lightfoot still didn’t think she’d get the Milken Award when it was revealed Friday that a Millbook educator would be honored.
“It’s such a great honor, a prestigious honor at that, just to be recognized for all the hard work that you’re doing, especially when you don’t do it for the recognition,” Lightfoot said. “You just do it because you love to do it.”
This story was originally published May 6, 2022 at 11:33 AM with the headline "This Raleigh educator just won the ‘Oscars of teaching’ — and its $25,000 prize."
