English teacher Katie Mace of Lyons, Nebraska, has garnered a prestigious 2022 Milken Educator Award. Photo Credit: Milken Family Foundation
I always enjoy sharing an inspirational story about a talented educator who has earned accolades for her work in the classroom. Today’s story is about Katie Mace, a high school English teacher from the small town of Lyons in northeast Nebraska. Katie has garnered a prestigious 2022 Milken Educator Award.
Katie earned her Bachelor’s degree in Secondary English from the University of Nebraska in 2003. She earned her Master’s degree in English Curriculum and Instruction from Wayne State College in 2011. She earned a second Master’s degree in Counseling from Creighton University in Nebraska in 2014.
Katie teaches English and Speech at Lyons-Decatur Northeast’s High School in Lyons. Her innovative instructional practices keep students engaged and excited as they develop their reading and language arts skills. For example, during a unit on medieval literature and culture, students invite staff and peers to a medieval feast. In another activity, her students make pitches for fictional businesses ideas in the style of the television show “Shark Tank.” And she regularly encourages her students to enter local and national writing contests. As a result of Katie’s instructional strategies, her students regularly score at the top of state averages on the English section of the ACT, and former students credit her with their college and career successes.
The honored educator also goes to great lengths to care for students’ social-emotional needs. Putting her Master’s degree in Counseling to work, she spends one period each day working with students individually and in small groups.
The Milken Educator Awards have been described by Teacher Magazine as the “Oscars of Teaching.” In addition to a $25,000 cash prize and public recognition, the honor includes membership in the National Milken Educator Network, a group of more than 2,700 exemplary teachers, principals, and specialists from all over the country who work towards strengthening best practices in education. To learn more, click on Milken Educator Awards.
