New Iberia math teacher is a recipient of a $25,000 Milken Educator Award
Christine Bayard, a sixth-grade math teacher at Johnston-Hopkins Elementary School in New Iberia, was caught completely off guard Tuesday when she received the Milken Educator Award.
"The moment I heard my name, my students were saying, 'I told you so,'" Bayard said. "Before the announcement, they said, 'What if it's you?,' and I said it wouldn't be me, because I never thought it could."
Honorees of the award receive a $25,000 cash prize and an all-expenses-paid trip to Los Angeles in June. 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.
"Awarding her with this prestigious award has left me speechless," Principal Ashley Lewis said. "She is most deserving of the award. Her drive comes from the students, and she is a teacher we never have to ask anything of, because she cares genuinely for the students."
Recipients are early- to mid-career teachers recognized for what they have achieved – and for the promise of what they will accomplish given the resources and opportunities afforded by the award.
Founder Lowell Milken, joined by State Superintendent of Education Dr. Cade Brumley, presented Bayard with the award.
"I've never been recognized on this kind of level before, and seeing something so great come from something I've been working on for years is amazing," Bayard said.
Bayard said that prior to entering a classroom as a teacher, she graduated from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in 2009 with a bachelor of science in psychology. She followed in the footsteps of her mother, who taught at the New Iberia school when it was known as Hoskins Elementary. Byard completed the alternative teacher education program for 4-8 middle school math in 2017.
Bayard is a sixth-grader math teacher who explores concepts beyond the pages of the textbooks. According to a news release by the Milken Family Foundation, Bayard has transformed lessons on decimals and rate reasoning into real-life experiences. Students calculate how much food, water and oxygen is needed to live on Mars for two years, how long a Mars text message would take to send to Earth, and how many days it would take to ride a horse to the moon.
Bayard’s classroom also becomes a construction site and a virtual racing world to explore fractions, the release said. Students use cubes to build habitats after calculating the cost, revenue and profit or loss for their projects.
“Ms. Bayard’s classroom is an innovative space where math transcends textbooks and students engage in real world lessons,” Brumley said. “Her commitment to a student-centered approach is seen through academic outcomes and the difference she has made throughout her school.”
The award has provided public recognition and a cash prize to many elementary and secondary school teachers, principals and specialists across the country.
According to Milken Family Foundation, the $25,000 cash award is unrestricted. 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.
"I'm not sure yet what I'll do with the money, because I am still honestly still shocked, but I truly hope my kids realize that education is a great profession, and hopefully them seeing how much fun I'm having while teaching can inspire them," Bayard said.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: Christine Bayard New Iberia math teacher wins $25,000 Milken Educator award
