Corey Oliver, a UCA alumnus and adjunct faculty member, this week won the 2007 Milken Family Foundation National Educator Award for his work as a teacher at Bob Courtway Middle School in Conway.
The award includes an unrestricted financial prize of $25,000. Up to 100 educators across the country are being recognized for their outstanding work with the awards at surprise ceremonies this fall.
Michael Milken, co-founder of the Milken Family Foundation, helped present the surprise award at a ceremony at Courtway Middle School.
In addition to that event, all Milken National Educators will be recognized at a national gala and awards ceremony in the spring. National Educator Award winners also become members of the Milken Educator Network, a coalition of educators who provide expert resources and serve as partners to network members and policymakers as they help cultivate and expand innovative programs in their classrooms, schools and districts.
Oliver, an eighth-grade English teacher, received both his bachelor?s and master?s degrees from UCA. He received his National Board Certification in 2006 and belongs to the National Council of Teachers of English and the Arkansas Council of Teachers of English and Language Arts.
In recommending Oliver to be named a Milken National Educator, his principal, Jerry Whitmore, said that Oliver’s “strengths are really his teaching techniques. He knows how to get and keep the interest level of his students; he knows how to keep them engaged and on-track. ? He is just a great teacher ? [who] teaches from the heart.”
