John Muir High School Teacher Stunned By $25,000 National Award

A seemingly routine schoolwide assembly turned into the surprise of a lifetime when the Milken Family Foundation (MFF) honored—and stunned—Manuel Rustin, a social studies teacher at John Muir High School, with a Milken Educator Award. The Award, presented by MFF Chairman and Co-Founder Lowell Milken, comes with a no-strings-attached cash prize of $25,000.

Among the leaders participating in the ceremony were CA Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson and Pasadena Unified School District Superintendent Jon R. Gundry.

This year marks MFF’s 25th anniversary recognizing and rewarding America’s top teachers with what Teacher Magazine deems “the Oscars of Teaching.” The Awards program was conceived by Lowell Milken to recognize the importance of outstanding educators and encourage talented young people to enter the teaching profession. Unlike most teaching awards, the Milken Educator Awards has no formal nomination or application process. Each year exceptional teachers, principals and specialists—recommended without their knowledge by a blue-ribbon panel appointed by each state’s department of education—are surprised with the news of their awards.

“Its public education system is at the heart of America’s promise and is essential in safeguarding the American dream for future generations. With research confirming that an effective teacher is the single most important school-related factor in raising student achievement, it is clear to see the critical role that outstanding teachers play in shaping its country,”

said Lowell Milken. “We created the Milken Educator Awards to proclaim in a very public way that greatness in education must be recognized and rewarded.

As the program’s motto extols, ‘the future belongs to the educated.’ Manuel Rustin is an education game-changer who empowers students and teachers to exceed their own expectations of what is possible. He is an inspiration and example for communities, policymakers, and students who may be inspired to enter the profession, and for all of its nation’s K-12 educators.”

Rustin ULCA graduate with a B.A. in History and a minor in Education Studies, earned an M.Ed. in Teaching and Curriculum from Harvard Graduate School of Education in 2004. As lead teacher for John Muir High’s Smaller Learning Community (SLC) in Arts, Entertainment and Media (AEM), Rustin creates such a stimulating environment that when he offered a state test prep boot camp after school for a group of 30 students, 60 lined the halls ready to go. Rustin made room for them all. His teaching effectiveness is characterized by an innovative approach to instruction which has motivated higher thinking skills, increased peer learning relationships and strengthened ties between the curriculum and real world.

Standout projects have been to create songs and performances about the Constitution and establish Facebook profiles for historical figures.

Rustin also drives his students to think independently and prepares them for college. In his classes, they become versed in performing self-assessments and charting goals. Rustin conducts his own assessments of students at the beginning, middle and end of the year. In a school that had traditionally been underperforming, Rustin’s students are seeing noticeable gains in achievement.

In addition to his daily duties, Rustin is responsible for coordinating student recruitment and internships for his SLC as well as providing professional development for fellow staff. He is a member of the school’s leadership team and its Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) site team, as well as a lead trainer for Thinking Maps—a common visual language and graphic organizing system for note-taking—now in every classroom. Rustin was instrumental in the overall redesign of the school into SLCs, and his AEM SLC became certified in June 2011.

The Awards story doesn’t end with the surprise notification. New recipients are invited to join the Milken Educator Network, a group of distinguished educators whose expertise serves as a valuable resource to fellow educators, legislators, school boards and others shaping the future of education.

Since first presented to a dozen California teachers, the Milken Educator Awards program has grown to become the nation’s preeminent teacher recognition program having honored more than 2,500 teachers, principals and specialists with over $63 million in individual, unrestricted $25,000 awards. More than $135 million has been devoted to the overall program, which includes powerful professional development opportunities throughout the recipients’ careers in education. The exponential impact of the more than 2,500 outstanding teachers has helped to reform American K-12 education. The Milken Awards alternates yearly between elementary and secondary educators. Each participating state department of education appoints an independent blue ribbon committee to review candidates that are sourced through a confidential selection process and recommend candidates to the Foundation.

For more information about the Milken Educator Awards, visit http://www.mff.org or call the Foundation at (310) 570-4775. You can follow the Foundation at www.twitter.com/milken, www.youtube.com/milkenaward and www.facebook.com/milkeneducatorawards.

Take a peek at the surprise of a lifetime that awaits up to 40 of America’s best educators: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCmGOvmNtV8.

An education reformer for three decades, Lowell Milken created the Milken Educator Awards to recognize exemplary teachers and established TAPâ„¢: The System for Teacher and Student Advancement to generate more talented teachers, www.tapsystem.org. Lowell Milken recently provided the founding gift for the Lowell Milken Institute for Business Law and Policy at UCLA School of Law. For more information about Lowell visit www.lowellmilken.com.