Congratulations to Sawyer Road Teacher Susan Grigg who was recently named 2008 Milken Award Winner. Susan is the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Program Coordinator at Sawyer Road Elementary School in Marietta. She is one of two teachers named Georgia’s 2008 National Milken Educators of the Year. Susan received $25,000 and other prizes.

The Educator of the Year award is given by the Milken Family Foundation, of California. State Superintendent of Schools Kathy Cox and Dr. Jane Foley, Senior Vice President of the Milken Family Foundation, made the surprise announcement at an assembly at the school this past Tuesday morning.

The Milken Family Foundation National Educator Awards provide recognition and unrestricted financial awards of $25,000 each to exceptional elementary and secondary school teachers, principals and specialists who are furthering excellence in our nation’s schools. This year, alone, a total of up to $2 million in Milken Awards will be presented to up to 80 of America’s finest elementary educators. New Milken Educators also receive an all-expenses-paid trip to Los Angeles to participate in the Milken National Education Conference focused on solutions to America’s pressing challenges in education today.

In 2002, Toni Lujan-Greene, a West Side Elementary teacher was named a Georgia National Milken Educator of the Year.

From Left to Right: State Superintendent of Schools Kathy Cox , Jill Sims, Principal of Sawyer Road Elementary, Susan Grigg, 2008 Milken Award Winner at Sawyer Road Elementary, Dr. Emily Lembeck, Marietta City Schools Superintendent, Emily Jennette, MCS 2008 Georgia teacher of the Year, and Dr. Jane Foley, Senior Vice President of the Milken Family Foundation