Nevada teacher Yamilet Lopez has garnered a prestigious 2024 Milken Educator Award. Photo Credit: Milken
Teachers all over the country are getting excited to learn that the winners of the prestigious 2024 Milken Awards are being announced. Today, I am excited to share the news that one of the recipients is Yamilet Lopez, an elementary school teacher from Nevada.
Teacher Magazine has described the Milken Educator Awards 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 3,000 exemplary teachers, principals, and specialists from all over the country who work together to strengthen best practices in education. To learn more, click on Milken Educator Awards.
Yamilet teaches kindergartners at Alice Maxwell School in Reno. There she develops hands-on, enriching instruction that not only prepares her students for the transition to first grade, but also equips them with language and vocabulary skills that surpass typical kindergarten standards. And the progress her students make is measurable. For example, by the end of the school year, her young students have mastered the entire alphabet, along with each letter’s sound, and they demonstrate the ability to compose short paragraphs. Always seeking new, exciting instructional strategies, Yamilet has developed a method called “spicy writing” to teach students how to add details to their narrative writing.
Yamilet also contributes to professional development. She has participated in the Department Chair Cohort through the Regional Professional Development Program (RPDP), where she plays a pivotal role in creating resources and webinars for teachers and promotes positive teacher and parent relationships within the district. Additionally, her involvement as a panelist for the school’s kindergarten town hall shows her dedication to connecting families to the program and ensuring sustained educational success for each child.
Yamilet earned a Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education from the University of Nevada, Reno, in 2012. She says she will use her prize money to finance a Master’s degree.
