Chubbuck teacher surprised with $25,000 Milken Educator Award
Chubbuck, Idaho (KIIF) — In a surprise assembly Friday, Tiffany Lemos, a third-grade teacher at Chubbuck Elementary School, received a $25,000 Milken Educator Award for her excellence and innovation in education.
Lemos uses a whole-brain teaching style to help her students work in ways that meet their individual needs by promoting movement and physical health in the classroom.
Milken Educator Awards Senior Vice President Dr. Jane Foley and Idaho State Superintendent of Public Instruction Sherri Ybarra surprised Lemos with the honor before cheering students, colleagues, state and local officials and the media. Lemos is only one of two honorees from Idaho and among more than 60 to receive the recognition during the 2021-22 school year.
Hailed as the “Oscars of Teaching,” the Milken Educator Awards celebrate, elevate and activate the American teaching profession and inspire young, capable people to join it.
“Tiffany’s Lemos’ creative approach to teaching is one of the many reasons she is an exceptional educator,” said Dr. Foley, who herself is a 1994 Milken Educator from Indiana. “Her ability to give her students autonomy in how they learn while encouraging parental involvement creates an effective synergy that produces highly engaged, successful students.”
The Milken Educator Award is not a lifetime achievement honor. Recipients are heralded while early to mid-career for what they have achieved — and for the promise of what they will accomplish given the resources and opportunities inherent in the Award.
“Winning a Milken Educator Award is a rare and remarkable honor, so it’s appropriate that Tiffany Lemos is a remarkable teacher,” Superintendent of Public Instruction Sherri Ybarra said. “With a master’s in educational technology, a gift for interpersonal connection and boundless creativity, she builds a strong learning community with her third-graders and their parents. The results are stellar, both in terms of individual growth and objective test results. On the 2019 ISAT, her students demonstrated proficiency well above state averages – 75 percent for math and 71 percent for English Language Arts.”
“Today is a remarkable day for the Pocatello/Chubbuck School District 25 and I would like to commend Tiffany Lemos for this recognition,” Superintendent Dr. Douglas Howell said. “Walking into Tiffany’s classroom for the first time, I immediately noticed how welcoming of an environment she was able to create for her learners. She sets the stage for a true learning experience every day."
