Teacher wins prestigious honor
NORMAN — Hailey Couch looked around the Madison Elementary School gymnasium Tuesday morning wondering who was about to receive a prestigious Milken Educator Award and a check for $25,000.
The fourth-year kindergarten teacher had no clue her name was about to be called.
“They started talking and I just had all these names in my head like, ‘Ooh, it could be her, it could be her, it could be her,’” she said. “And then they said me and I said, ‘No it’s not, no way.’”
Cheers, hugs and tears followed as an emotional Couch made her way to the podium, surrounded by special guests that included U.S. Rep. Tom Cole, R-Moore; state schools Superintendent Joy Hofmeister; and Norman Public Schools Superintendent Nick Migliorino.
Making the announcement was Lowell Milken, chairman and co-founder of the Milken Family Foundation, which provides recognition and unrestricted financial awards of $25,000 to exceptional elementary and secondary school teachers, principals and specialists who are “furthering excellence in our nation’s schools.”
“It’s not often that you wake up in the morning, come to school for an assembly and you receive a financial award of $25,000,” Milken said.
Couch is the only Milken winner from Oklahoma for 2018-19 and one of 40 recipients nationwide.
According to the foundation, she is a strong advocate of individualized instruction who helps students thrive by creating a controlled, calm and orderly classroom environment where “great expectations are made and met.”
Hofmeister said of Couch, who teaches at a school where students speak up to 13 native languages: “She celebrates the diversity of her classroom and teaches children to value tradition and embrace different cultures from an early age.”
Educators cannot apply for the award and do not know they are being considered. The selection process is confidential, and candidates are reviewed by blue ribbon panels appointed by state departments of education, with final approval coming from the foundation, which is based in Santa Monica, California.
Couch gave thanks to her mother, who succumbed to ovarian cancer in 2008.
“My mom was literally the best human ever,” she said. “She’s with me every day, and I talk to her every day on the way to school and she really just gives me the strength that I need.”
At the end of the ceremony, Couch rounded up her students and headed back to her classroom.
“She’s really nice and she works really hard,” 5-year-old Legend Birdine said. “She’s the greatest teacher.”