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| Candice Harrington, third from left, a Korean-American math teacher at Capistrano Valley High School in Viejo, Calif., holds a prize money board after winning the Milken Educator Award early this month. The annual award is given to the finest elementary and secondary school teachers in the United States and is dubbed as "Oscars of Teaching." Captured from Milken Family Foundation website |
By Yi Whan-woo
A Korean-American math teacher has won the Milken Educator Award given to the finest elementary and secondary school teachers in the United States.
The Milken Family Foundation, the host of the annual award dubbed the "Oscars of Teaching," by Teacher magazine, said on its website early this month that Candice Harrington was among the 40 recipients across the country.
Los Angeles-born, Harrington, 40, teaches Advanced Placement (AP) Calculus AB ― an entry-level college math course open for qualified students ― at Capistrano Valley High School in Mission Viejo, Calif.
A total of 95 percent of her students passed the exam on differential and integral calculus and received college credit, or AP, accordingly.
Harrington received $25,000 in prize money from the foundation.
"I hope recognition like this shows young people that teaching can be very meaningful," Harrington was quoted as saying by the award organizer. "There's never a day when I wake up and don't want to go to work."
The foundation, a private education and medical research institution in Santa Monica, Calif., lauded her for propelling "exponential progress in math education at all levels."
Calling her "a booster and mentor to fellow teachers," the Milken Educator Awards Senior Vice President Jane Foley said, "By generating interest and enthusiasm for STEM education, including young women, a great teacher like Candice Harrington creates a myriad of pathways to success for all students."
In addition to calculus, she teaches other courses for ninth to 12th grades.
Harrington's "hands-on" teaching method is noted for making abstract concepts more concrete for students.
She also coaches fellow instructors to think creatively about how they teach in order to reach learners in new and innovative ways.
She mentors student teachers, serves as an instructional coach for the district and lectures on mathematics methods at California State University Fullerton (CSUF).
Harrington earned her bachelor's degree in mathematics from CSUF in 2005 and a master's in education from Concordia University, Irvine in 2018.
The award recipients are selected in their early to mid-career for what they have achieved and for their potential to achieve even more in the future.
In addition to the $25,000 prize and public recognition, the winners get a membership in the National Milken Educator Network, a group of more than 2,800 top teachers, principals, and specialists dedicated to strengthening education.
The Milken Educator Awards were created in 1985 by education reformer and philanthropist Lowell Milken.
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