M.Ed. grad wins national teaching award
4/30/08
Darrell Yater, who earned in undergraduate degree from Miami in ’94 and his M.Ed. in ’97, was one of 75 outstanding teachers from across America to receive a 2008 Milken Educator Award.
Yater, who teachers language arts at White Oak Middle School in Cincinnati’s Northwest Local Schools, received a check for $25,000 during a Los Angeles gala hailed as the “Oscars of Teaching” by Teacher magazine.
Yater was described as a model teacher whose primary goal is to transform all students into learners who accept responsibility for their own learning. He makes sure that his lessons meet the state English Language Arts Standards while using creative and inspiring classroom activities.
About 25 percent of his 100 students are identified as having disabilities, Yater and Yater uses testing data to drive his instruction and student team activities to reach all students.
“Through his kind, caring and calm manner, he causes students to love to read and to reflect through their writing – he shows them they can reach their potential,” said a colleague.
First presented in 1987, the Milken Educator Awards represent the largest teacher recognition program in the United States. Since the creation of the awards program, more than 2,300 exceptional educators have received more than $58 million in unrestricted cash awards.