Teacher From Grosse Pointe Woods Wins 2013 Milken Educator Award

Originally posted by Timothy Rath

Grosse Pointe Woods resident Mark Julien received the shock of his teaching career on Tuesday morning when he was honored by the Milken Family Foundation as one of the country's top teachers in front of the entire school.

The 2013 Milken Educator Award and its $25,000 unrestricted prize was given for the first time this year to Julien, an English and language arts teacher at Henry Ford II High School and the only award winner from Michigan.

Almost everyone at the school-wide assembly expected recognition for Ford II winning national acclaim as a top high school. When Jane Foley, senior vice president of the Milken Family Foundation, explained her real purpose of visit about a half-hour into the proceedings, Julien admitted he was not entirely serious.

"I was sitting up in the bleachers, joking with a colleague next to mine about what it might be like to win, joking about how the teacher who won might spend the money on," he said.

Those feelings soon gave way to humbled shock and appreciation: "I feel overwhelmingly humble. Something like this, I’ll probably spend the rest of my career trying to live up to," he said."

"I’m here, the product of a working class family, first-generation in college, because of great teachers. We’re trying to offer the same opportunities for a better future for our kids. I think if the American dream is alive, it’s in schools."

Utica Community Schools Superintendent Christine Johns and senior student Anthony Landini among those who were not surprised. According to a press release from the foundation, Julien employs approaches such as think-pair-share, guided highlighted reading and close and critical reading.

"He’s an exemplary educator, not just in the classroom with students but also he’s a leader of teachers. He just does extraordinary work. It is not unusual for me to hear from parents in the community of what a great job he’s doing," Johns said. 

When asked what makes Julien so effective, Landini said, "The variety of things. Right now, we’re analyzing some Greek plays and acting them out so that everyone gets the hang of it."

Since 1987, the foundation has devoted more than $136 million in funding to the Milken Educator Awards, including over $64 million in individual awards to nearly 2,600 recipients. Julien is the first of about 40 teachers nationwide who will win the award this year.

So, what will Julien spend the money on? In addition to using it for the benefit of his three daughters living in Grosse Pointe Woods, Julien said that he hopes to help have a party for the staff at Ford II.