$25,000 award for teacher’s excellence
Published: November 18, 2005
Quaker Valley High School math teacher Jeffrey Sebastian had just one question upon learning last Thursday that he had won a $25,000 Milken Family Educator Award for teaching excellence.
“Am I being ‘Punk’d?’ ” he asked, much to the delight of the audience of high school students, a demographic that has made the MTV practical joke show, “Punk’d,” a hit.
The award was no joke, but it was a surprise to Mr. Sebastian, who teaches advanced placement and honors calculus and coaches the girls tennis team. He is free to use the cash award in any way he chooses.
Dubbed the “Oscars of Teaching” by Teacher magazine, the Milken Family Educator Awards were created in 1985 by Lowell Milken, chairman and co-founder of the Milken Family Foundation, to honor superior teachers. Each fall, the foundation recognizes exceptional elementary and secondary teachers, principals and specialists with surprise rewards. Mr. Sebastian is one of about 100 educators to be given the award this fall.
Shula Nedley, state Department of Education representative, presented the award to Mr. Sebastian, before an audience of high school students, faculty and staff and local and state officials.
“I’m overwhelmed and, for one of the first times in my life, I’m without words,” Mr. Sebastian, 35, of Cranberry, told the audience.
He went on to praise the students and told them, “I admire many of you, whether you realize it or not.”
According to the foundation’s Web site, the Milken Educator Awards do not have a formal application or nomination process. Educators are recommended for the honor by a panel appointed by each state’s department of education.
Quaker Valley High School Principal Heidi Ondek said she wasn’t surprised Mr. Sebastian was chosen.
“It’s the way he relates to students and engages them. Kids respond to him and he turns them into great math students,” she said.
Senior Seth Baumwell had Mr. Sebastian as a teacher last school year and called him one of the “academically best teachers in the high school.” He said Mr. Sebastian has a reputation for turning out students who achieve top scores on the advanced placement calculus exam.
To do that, Mr. Sebastian said he believes in hitting the basics hard. He is, for example, a fan of drill and practice when appropriate. But he is not the type of teacher to stand up and lecture for an hour.
“It’s a back-and-forth exchange for 60 minutes. I may set the parameters, but every kid in the class is involved,” he said.
Before coming to Quaker Valley, Mr. Sebastian taught at Freedom High School in the Freedom Area School District for eight years. He earned his education degree from Penn State University and holds master’s degrees in curriculum and instruction and in administration from Youngstown State University. He is working on his kindergarten through grade 12 principal’s certificate at Youngstown State University.
As for what he will do with the money, Mr. Sebastian said he would pay some bills and perhaps treat himself to some luxury, but he hasn’t decided what that will be.
Alisha Hipwell is a freelance writer
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