New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
Math teacher awarded $25,000 Milken Educator Award
ANSONIA — Ninthgrade math teacher Laura Baker-Coronis sat down a few rows behind a podium at the Ansonia High School gym on Thursday, expecting to hear more about a program for the high school.
Instead, she was surprised to learn she was the focus of the gathering — as the recipient of a $25,000 Milken Educator Award from the Milken Family Foundation.
“I really thought they were going to discuss all the pathways we have at our high school. And then that happens,” BakerCoronis said.
The award is handed out every year to teachers across the country and is considered one of the most prestigious awards in the teaching profession. Baker-Coronis was awarded due to her teaching strategies and her leadership, according to the foundation.
In a release, the foundation praised Baker-Coronis for making math accessible to students, like teaching her students how to use algebra to design cars, geometry to help design cereal boxes and doing all this while making herself accessible to students.
The award is handed once to beginning and mid-career educators. Baker-Coronis is the only teacher in Connecticut to receive the award in 2022.
The award is considered so prestigious, Ansonia High School went all out for the surprise announcement.
Students filed into seats while the marching band played a rendition of “We Will Rock You” by Queen before the celebration started. State and local elected officials were also in attendance. Jane Foley, a senior vice president at the Milken Family Foundation, said foundation staffers were watching the event live from California.
Before Foley announced Baker-Coronis' name, she said the foundation chose a teacher who stood out from the rest.
“There's many good teachers and principals in this country. But one of the best teachers in the entire country out of the 3 million teachers is here in your school. And before we leave a teacher in Ansonia is going to receive this national award. It's the only one in Connecticut this year,” Foley said.
Soon after, she called Baker-Coronis' name to applause as she walked up to the podium where a novelty check made out to her for $25,000 was held to her right. Afterward, Baker-Coronis said she was trying not to fall while walking to the podium.
“I was trying to make my legs stop shaking. They're still shaking. But I was really like, ‘Don't trip, don't trip,” Baker-Coronis said.
Baker-Coronis's award will also consist of an all-expenses paid trip to the Milken Educator Awards Forum where she will network with previous winners and become more involved with the foundation.
The award is handed out every year, but was postponed last year due to the pandemic. More than 60 educators will be awarded in 2022, according to the foundation. While it is possible for multiple teachers to be awarded in the same state, the foundation said that is rare.
Foley said Baker-Coronis is at the top of her profession.
“She's already a leader in the school in the district. She is what we call an unsung hero,” Foley said.
Baker-Coronis said she was inspired to become an educator by her own fourth grade teacher.
“I had a really good fourth grade teacher who I loved. And I always thought I wanted to work with kids, I never thought it would be at the high school level. But when I was in college, I started helping friends with math. I'm like, Oh, I could do this,” Baker-Coronis said.
Foley said the award is not subject to a nomination process meaning other teachers or educators in the Ansonia school district had no idea BakerCoronis was even under consideration. She said the foundation only told the superintendent and principal who the winner would be. Superintendent Joe DiBacco said the foundation kept asking the school principal questions about Baker-Coronis, saying they thought she was being nominated to be on the board during the previous year.
Then DiBacco received a call in November 2021.
“We get the phone call saying she's a Milken award winner since November.
We couldn't say anything,” DiBacco said.
It would be months before DiBacco could tell anyone else about it and he said it was tough.
“It was tough, especially in a small town. When people all know each other and say, ‘Hey, you know, we got this unbelievable event — that only happens once,” he said.
Baker-Coronis said while she teaches ninth grade, she never turns away any of her former students.
“My door's always open. If they leave the Freshman Academy and they come back to me. I'm open. I'm here with open arms.
They know they could talk to me. They know. They know I'm just there. And I think that's important,” she said.