Susan Castillo, the Oregon State Superintendent of Public Instruction, and Dr. Tom Boysen, a member of board for the Milken Family Foundation, presented Francis Caro, World History and IB Psychology teacher, with $25,000 and the Milken Educator Award at the assembly on Oct. 24.
Principal Mark Neffendorf, Vice Principal Barbara Proctor and Associate Principal Mickey Toft were the only ones in the building who knew about the assembly and who was going to receive the award.
“I had no idea,” said Caro after the assembly. “I almost said, ‘You got the wrong guy’.I don’t know where my mind is, thank you. Teaching here is wonderful.”
Humble as he may be, senior Aran Lenart feels he most definitely deserved the award.
“He’s one of those teachers that doesn’t just teach well, but knows how to interact with students,” said Lenart. “He’s one of those teachers where you can tell he cares and isn’t just doing it.”
Boysen says that when looking for the right teacher for the award they look for a teacher who is “persistent, resourceful, creative, and nurturing and has potential for further contribution in class and their leadership”.
“It’s exciting to have a recipient,” said Proctor. “[There haven’t been] others that I know of outside of my 20 years here.”
Another part of the assembly was a message from Castillo about where No Child Left Behind stands for Oregon’s education system.
She was invited by President Barack Obama and told by the United Sates Department of Education that Oregon can apply for a waiver to No Child Left Behind. Superintendent Rob Saxton is working on the application with Castillo to start the changes to No Child Left Behind.
Castillo mainly wants to change the way federal money is spent within the schools.
“Schools have to use federal money in specific ways,” said Castillo. “There’s a mandate to use federal money in a certain way. [The change] would leave it up to local decision” – for Tigard-Tualatin School District, Saxton would make the decisions – “to use the federal money. Change it so it can help schools who need help in their own way from local decision.”
“I want to thank you all for your support the years I have been at THS,” said Caro. “Any honor I receive for teaching is not accepted alone. It is you all who have helped me do my job each and every day so this recognition is something I truly and profoundly share with all of you. I am blessed to work with all of you and I wouldn’t work anywhere else!