Elementary school teacher Vanessa Thomson of Gladstone, Missouri, has garnered a prestigious Milken Educator Award. Photo credit: North Kansas City Schools
I always enjoy sharing an inspirational story about a talented educator who has earned accolades for work in the classroom. Today’s story is about elementary school teacher Vanessa Thomson of Gladstone, Missouri. She has garnered a prestigious Milken Educator Award for 2023.
Vanessa teaches second grade at Chapel Hill Elementary School in her home town of Gladstone. In a career that spans 15 years, Vanessa has spent all of them at Chapel Hill. The honored educator has accomplished amazing results with her students. Last year, her kids demonstrated significant growth in all content areas, with 70% ending the year reading at or above grade level and more than 90% mastering most math standards. Because her school’s population of English language learners (ELLs) has grown in recent years, Vanessa has focused on building a variety of language development strategies. And her hard work has yielded the desired results. In spring 2022, 89% of her ELL students demonstrated mastery on all priority standards, up from 25% at the beginning of the school year.
On her campus, Vanessa has a reputation for being a passionate advocate for her students. And her devotion doesn’t end when they leave her classroom. “I follow up with them. I have been invited to graduations and parties,” Vanessa says. “The kids my first year of teaching are graduating from college,” she continues. “If one of them wants to be a teacher or they receive some encouragement from me that takes them on a positive path, I have done my job. After all, it was my first-grade teacher that inspired me to be a teacher,” she concludes.
In addition to working with students in her classroom, Vanessa serves as a facilitator for Chapel Hill’s leadership team, she is a member of her District’s strategic plan action team, and she mentors new and beginning teachers. She also serves as a District demonstration teacher for writing, hosting teachers from across the district for lesson observations and sharing of best practices.
Vanessa earned a Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education from William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri, in 2008. She earned her Master’s in Curriculum and Instruction from Baker University in Baldwin City, Kansas, in 2013.
The Milken Educator Awards are hailed by Teacher magazine as the “Oscars of Teaching.” For more than 35 years, the program has recognized excellence in the world of education by honoring top educators around the country with a $25,000 cash prize. The honor includes membership in the National Milken Educator Network, a group of more than 2,700 exemplary professional educators from all over the country. To learn more, click on Milken Educator Awards.
