Los Angeles teacher Ellen Dooley has been named one of this year’s national Milken Educator Award recipients, earning one of the nation’s highest honors in education, it was announced Tuesday.
The social science instructional leader teaches a range of classes to sixth through 12th graders at Milken Community School in Los Angeles, including modern world/Jewish history, U.S. history, and art history.
The announcement was made Tuesday by Milken Educator Awards Founder Lowell Milken during an all-school assembly at MCS about leadership with Los Angeles Dodgers President and CEO Stan Kasten.
Surrounded by cheering students and colleagues, Dooley accepted her award and its accompanying unrestricted $25,000 cash prize.
She is one of two California recipients to earn the Milken Educator Award this school year, and among up to 30 recipients nationally. Joel Hudec, principal of Brookside Elementary School in Beaumont, in Riverside County, was presented with the award in November.
“Dr. Ellen Dooley inspires students to reach high levels of achievement,” Lowell Milken said in a statement. “Ellen understands that education is active, enhanced by rich curriculum, depth of thought and a connection to real-life events and experiences that shape students into compassionate, productive members of society. We are excited to welcome Ellen into the Milken Educator Network, and to see her continue to motivate positive change in her school, community, and across the nation.”
Dooley joins a national network of over 3,000 Milken Educators spanning the awards’ nearly 40 years as the prestigious teacher-recognition program. Hailed as the “Oscars of Teaching,” the awards initiative has no formal application or nomination process. Outstanding K-12 educators are sought out while early to mid-career for what they have achieved — and for the promise of what they will accomplish given the resources and opportunities afforded by the award, according to the Milken Family Foundation.
Beyond MCS, Dooley has mentored students at various schools as a writing coach and supported teenage mothers pursuing high school diplomas. She also served as assistant curator of Latin American art at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and as a volunteer instructor with the Prison University Project — now Mount Tamalpais College — at the San Quentin Rehabilitation Center.
Milken Educator Award honorees will attend an all-expenses-paid awards forum June 12-14 in Washington, D.C., where they will network with their new colleagues, as well as veteran Milken educators and other education leaders.