A Delaware educator is the only American finalist for $1 million Global Teacher Prize

Kelly Powers, Delaware News Journal
Updated ·4 min read

One teacher at Odyssey Charter School is the only American finalist for the Varkey Foundation Global Teacher Prize 2023. The $1 million prize is the largest of its kind.

Now in its eighth year, the international program filtered through some 7,000 nominations and applications from 130 countries, in collaboration with UNESCO and a partnership with Dubai Cares, a UAE-based global philanthropic organization.

Delaware's Melissa Tracy was recognized as a top 10 finalist, as of Oct. 25.

As organizers put it, the Wilmington educator leads a "one-of-a-kind" food studies program — from teaching students the importance of healthy food systems, to transforming her classroom into a hydroponic lab where students produce organic fruit and vegetables themselves. Oh, she and her students also donate about 6,000 greens per month.

"I was wholeheartedly honored and shocked to be a finalist. Just to be in the sheer company of the other educators was a huge honor. I carry that honor with me quite deeply," Tracy told Delaware Online/The News Journal ahead of the announcement. "But I hope that this recognition will help to shine a very bright light on, I like to joke, the 'tiny but mighty' state of Delaware, and also shine a really bright light on my students."

Melissa Tracy leads a food studies program at Odyssey Charter School, in Wilmington, ranging from teaching students the importance of healthy food systems, to transforming her classroom into a hydroponic lab where students produce organic fruit and vegetables themselves. She and her students also donate about 6,000 pounds of green produce locally, per month.

Tracy has taught English in a rural village in Thailand. She returned to her home of New Orleans to teach those affected by Hurricane Katrina. In her career, she's probably designed and implemented over 30 different courses. Today, she teaches food studies at Odyssey, a Greek charter school serving more than 2,000 students.

She's worked in Delaware for 17 years, Odyssey for going on seven.

By 2019, Tracy transformed her classroom into the hydroponic lab — having already built her program to maintain 36 raised gardens, vertical gardens, a greenhouse and more. The lab lets her students use advanced farming technology to produce chemical-free fruit, vegetables, herbs and edible flowers, according to the prize announcement, without traditional soil.

If she wins, Tracy told organizers she would hope to equip every single school in Delaware with self-contained vertical hydroponic systems to grow hyper-local produce. She also plans to keep empowering students with knowledge of food production, even in an ever-changing world.

Melissa Tracy leads a food studies program at Odyssey Charter School, in Wilmington, Delaware, ranging from teaching students the importance of healthy food systems, to transforming her classroom into a hydroponic lab where students produce organic fruit and vegetables themselves. She and her students also donate about 6,000 pounds of green produce locally, per month.

"We're trying to prepare students for current and future careers," Tracy said, noting she now leads a career and technical education pathway within food studies, as well as dual-enrollment opportunities.

"And we know there's going to be ever-increasing pressure on our planet due to climate change and an ever-growing global population. So it's my hope that I will inspire some of my students to actually tackle what is arguably one of the most pressing issues that their generation will face."

Tracy could add to her growing brass. She was the 2019 Gilder-Lehrman History Teacher of the Year, the 2020 Delaware Charter School Teacher of the Year, a 2020 Sanford Award Winner, 2021 Delaware STEM Educator of the Year, according to the program, and the sole recipient of the Pathfinder Award for innovation in teaching.

She would tell you the credit comes back to her school and her students.

Melissa Tracy leads a food studies program at Odyssey Charter School, in Wilmington, ranging from teaching students the importance of healthy food systems, to transforming her classroom into a hydroponic lab where students produce organic fruit and vegetables themselves. She and her students also donate about 6,000 pounds of green produce locally, per month.

The Global Teacher Prize winner will be announced on Nov. 8, in Paris.

“Congratulations, Melissa! We look forward to welcoming you to the Global Teacher Prize ceremony, hosted by UNESCO at our headquarters in Paris," said Stefania Giannini, assistant director general for education at UNESCO, in a statement. "Inspirational teachers such as Melissa deserve recognition for their commitments to preparing children and youth to navigate a rapidly evolving world. Teachers play a leading role in transforming education for the future.”

The prize was open to working teachers, with students in compulsory schooling or between the ages of five and eighteen. Teachers applying for the Global Teacher Prize are assessed on teaching practices, according to organizers, how they innovate to address local challenges, achieve demonstrable learning outcomes, impact the community beyond the classroom and help children become "global citizens."

"Not only are students able to learn really sophisticated academic content, but we're literally we're feeding our community," Tracy said.

"Through that action, it's also helping them to develop empathy, to better understand: What does it mean to be human? And having a connection with somebody in a different part of the city, perhaps in a completely different community — but helping to address a very human need, which is having access to healthy foods."

Melissa Tracy leads a food studies program at Odyssey Charter School, in Wilmington, ranging from teaching students the importance of healthy food systems, to transforming her classroom into a hydroponic lab where students produce organic fruit and vegetables themselves. She and her students also donate about 6,000 pounds of green produce locally, per month.

Got a story? Kelly Powers covers race, culture and equity for Delaware Online and USA TODAY Network Northeast, with a focus on education. Contact her at kepowers@gannett.com or (231) 622-2191, and follow her on Twitter @kpowers01.

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: A Delawarean is the only American finalist for a global teaching prize