Milken Family Foundation Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Nitro High School Teacher Awarded $25,000 For Excellence In Education

A national education-focused foundation selected a Kanawha County teacher for his excellence in teaching and awarded him an unrestricted $25,000 cash prize.

Nitro High School’s engineer-turned-educator, Adam Wolfe, had the surprise of a lifetime Tuesday morning at a seemingly routine assembly.

Wolfe, a math and engineering teacher, was as shocked as his students when Milken Educator Awards Vice President Stephanie Bishop declared him the winner.

“Adam Wolfe really stands out as being an innovator,” Bishop said. “He is all about hands-on learning in his engineering and math classes. And because of his dedication to this community and being a problem solver, we sought him out as the Milken Educator for 2024.”

There is no application process for this award. Each year, the foundation selects teachers from across the U.S. to recognize excellence in teaching with an unrestricted $25,000 cash prize.

The winner is left a complete surprise to everyone except the state’s Department of Education — and perhaps the school’s principal and some administrators.

Wolfe is West Virginia’s only 2024 to 2025 Milken Educator Award recipient, but the state’s 80th teacher named a Milken Educator since the program began in 1987.

From left: Milken Educator Awards Vice President Stephanie E. Bishop, Brian Allman, Brian Barth, Adam Wolfe, Dr. Erika Klose, Michele Blatt and Tom Williams.

*Milken Family Foundation*

Wolfe stood out to the Milken Foundation because he uses his experience as a former engineer to support students and connect them to community projects and internship opportunities.

“We are working with the state Department of Education here in West Virginia to find the best of the best,” Bishop said. “We are looking for the top 1 percent of educators to be Milken Educators in this state.”

Wolfe said he felt shock, gratitude, humility and some guilt because he thinks many other excellent teachers at Nitro High School deserve the recognition.

“It’s awesome to be recognized for this, and I hope I do make an impact on my kids’ lives, but I know I’m certainly not the only person in the building who does that,” Wolfe said. “I don’t pretend to know what’s best for those kids. But, as I said earlier, I hope to give them the space for them to figure that out.”

In addition to recognition and the cash prize, Wolfe won an all-expense paid trip to an education forum in Los Angeles, Ca. in April 2025.

Back in the classroom, math and engineering teacher Adam Wolfe teaches his ninth-grade students a lesson.

*Milken Family Foundation*

Nitro Teacher Wins $25,000 Education Award

On Wednesday morning, a Nitro elementary school teacher received a $25,000 Milken Educator Award.

In the surprise of a lifetime, Janna Hamrick, a fifth grade teacher at Rock Branch Elementary School in Nitro, West Virginia received a Milken Educator Award, often called the “Oscar of Teaching.”

Hamrick was completely unaware of her candidacy for the award of $25,000. Cheers erupted from the students and faculty filling the cafeteria as Hamrick’s name was announced by Gov. Jim Justice.

“The Milken Family makes this really a big secret, and you know the teachers can’t apply,” Justice said. “Absolutely, it is a gigantic secret. So, probably here right at this moment somewhere, where is Janna Hamrick?”

Hamrick has been teaching in Putnam County for 12 years. Hamrick earned a Bachelor of Arts in elementary education, K-6, in 2008, and a Master of Arts in secondary math education, grades 5-9, through Algebra 1 in 2011, both from Marshall University.

She said she puts her heart and soul into teaching.

“Every single day, I come in here because I love the kids and I invest in them daily, because of that passion,” Hamrick said. “I think if I have that passion, and I treat them like that, they give me the same respect and love in return, and so they are willing to do anything. And so when I set the bar high, they go higher.”

Milken Educator Awards Vice President Stephanie Bishop said that passion is what made Hamrick stand out to the organization.

“Miss Hamrick really stood out as being in the top one percent of educators in this nation, because of what she’s doing in the classroom, to innovate, and how she is really in tune with reaching the whole child and has connected the students in her class to the school community, but then also the community at large,” Bishop said.

According to the 2022/23 West Virginia General Summative Assessment, Rock Branch’s fifth grade mathematics proficiency is not only among the highest in Putnam County but also in the state.

Hamrick is the second and final West Virginia Milken Educator recipient this season, concluding the Milken Family Foundation’s 2023/24 West Virginia tour. She joins Ashley Wilkins-Franks who received her award on Oct. 31 in Petersburg, West Virginia.

“Janna Hamrick epitomizes the important role educators play today,” said State Superintendent of Schools Michele Blatt. “Her enthusiasm for learning is infectious and the relationships she builds with her students establish connections that strengthen their learning. She creates a safe learning environment and allows them to take risks and become more self-reliant. We are proud she has earned this stellar award.”

The honorees will attend an all-expenses-paid Milken Educator Award Forum in Los Angeles, California where they will network with their new colleagues as well as veteran Milken educators.

The $25,000 cash award is unrestricted. According to the Milken Family Foundation, some recipients have spent the funds on their children’s or their own continuing education, financing dream field trips, establishing scholarships and even adopting children.

When asked what she will do with the financial reward, Hamrick said she has not decided what to do with the total sum but plans to give her daughter a wonderful Christmas this year.

Grant County Teacher Receives Milken Educator Award

Cheers rang through the Petersburg High School gym Tuesday morning. Students, educators, and state and national dignitaries gathered to celebrate English language arts teacher Ashley Wilkins-Franks as one of 75 Milken Award winners around the country.

Cheers rang through the Petersburg High School gym Tuesday morning as students, educators, and state and national dignitaries gathered to celebrate English language arts teacher Ashley Wilkins-Franks. She just found out she was one of 75 Milken Award winners around the country.

Called the “Oscars of Teaching,” the Milken Family Foundation honors top educators annually. The awards provide public recognition and individual financial rewards of $25,000 to elementary and secondary school teachers, principals and specialists from around the country who are furthering excellence in education. Recipients are heralded in early to mid-career for what they have achieved and for the promise of what they will accomplish.

Wilkins-Franks said her dedication to getting students engaged, using proven classroom and instructional strategies, means teaching kids from all walks of life, with different backgrounds and ethnicities.

“Becoming engaged with all of those students, no matter what their ability level, or language proficiency, or any of those things is very paramount into their success,” she said. “My students know when they walk in my room that we are going to work from the time the bell rings to start class until the time the bell rings to stop class. And I do have very high expectations for them.”

Wilkins-Franks facilitates Socratic Seminars, where students engage in respectful, high-level discussions on their varying interpretations of classic literature. Using Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart,” Wilkins-Franks guides students through character trials, during which they act as prosecutors and debate whether the main character of the story is guilty, building their presentation skills and curriculum competency.

Wilkins-Franks said all educators must realize people never stop learning or adapting to the future.

“Especially after COVID-19,” she said. “That changed the entire landscape of what education looks like in public education and private education as well. And so now we’re pivoting again, to fill those gaps that students don’t have coming out of and also trying to make sure that we are preparing them for real life and college and trade schools and the workforce.”

Asked about her $25,000 prize, Wilkins-Franks said she has no idea yet what she will do with the money.

“This has all been a whirlwind,” she said. “I still feel like I’m going to wake up from a dream in 10 minutes, and this has been a figment of my imagination.”

It’s no dream. Wilkins-Franks and all 2023 Milken honorees will attend an all-expenses paid Milken Educator Awards Forum in Los Angeles in June 2024. There they will network with their new colleagues as well as veteran Milken Educators and other education leaders about how to broaden their impact on K-12 education.

West Virginia Teacher Receives $25,000 Milken Award

A West Virginia middle school science teacher has been honored as one of the nation’s top educators.

Winfield Middle School teacher Erika Klose received a $25,000 Milken Educator Award from the Milken Family Foundation on Monday. The award was given to 45 teachers nationwide.

The West Virginia Department of Education says Klose learned she was a recipient of the award during a surprise school-wide assembly.

Klose incorporates technology and hands-on experiments into her teaching, and her mission is to get more students thinking about careers in science, technology, engineering and math.

Her students consistently win awards from various science fairs and last year they won $10,000 for classroom supplies.

Mercer County Principal Receives Distinguished Milken Award

A principal in Mercer County has been honored as one of the nation’s top educators.

Princeton Primary School Principal Ernie Adkins received a $25,000 Milken Educator Award from the Milken Family Foundation on Thursday.

The West Virginia Department of Education says Adkins learned that he was a recipient of the award during a surprise school-wide assembly.

Adkins has served as the school’s principal since it opened three years ago. The Department of Education says 90 percent of the school’s students are reading at or above grade level by the end of kindergarten.

Teacher magazine calls the Milken Awards the “Oscars of teaching.”