Author: Tammy Lane • First Posted: Tuesday, October 26, 2010

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Nami Stager, who teaches at Northern Elementary, tried to hold her composure after Tuesday's big announcement.

Fourth-grade teacher Nami Stager of Northern Elementary has received a Milken Family Foundation National Educator Award. She is Kentucky’s sole winner this year in the largest teacher recognition program in the United States.

“I feel like I’m accepting this for all of us,” Stager said in thanking her colleagues at Tuesday’s schoolwide assembly. “I feel like I’m just doing my job, so getting recognized this way is surreal.”

The Milken awards were created to reward, retain and attract the highest quality K-12 educators to the profession. Nominees are considered by a blue-ribbon panel appointed by each state’s department of education. Each winner receives an unrestricted financial award of $25,000 and all-expenses-paid trip to Los Angeles for the Milken National Education Conference next spring.

Stager, who is in her fourth year at Northern Elementary, teaches science and writing and collaborates on cross-curricular units. She also has developed reading, math and science units for elementary classes across Fayette County Public Schools and is a member of the Superintendent’s Advisory Council.

“When you hear Nami talk about her philosophy of education, you know she is right and that it makes sense,” said Northern Principal Meredith Dunn. “She has incredibly high expectations for every student. She is rigorous in her teaching and truly believes that each child can reach above and beyond.”

State Education Commissioner Terry Holliday and Kentucky’s first commissioner, Tom Boysen, told the Northern students a little about the Milken award and likened the announcement to a surprise birthday party.

“You don’t apply for it. We find you,” Boysen, who represented the Milken Family Foundation, said in citing such criteria as vision, effort and persistence, and a love of the work and of the students.

Stager, who was standing near the back of the gym, dropped a handful of markers when she heard her name called. After a round of hugs and handshakes, she gathered her thoughts.

What motivates her in the classroom? The idea that what she does and says will have a lasting effect on students. When is teaching most rewarding? When a child demonstrates what he has learned and is excited about it, too. Her goal? To reach one kid every day and influence him to be a life-long learner.

Stager also paused to remind students to keep her award in perspective. “It’s not about getting recognized,” she said. “It’s about doing the right thing.”

Stager earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Kentucky in 2005 and is working on her master’s degree at Eastern Kentucky University. She taught for two years at Booker T. Washington Academy before joining the Northern Elementary staff.

This year, the Milken Family Foundation will present more than $1.3 million in cash awards to more than 50 of the country’s finest educators. Since 1993, when the state joined the program, 51 Kentucky educators have received the award. 

Five former winners from across the state were on hand Tuesday, along with Congressman Ben Chandler.

“This is what public education is all about, and this is what having a great teacher is all about,” Chandler said. “It’s critical for our future to reward our best teachers.”