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Alumna named top educator in the nation
November 21, 2007
Of the 80 middle and senior high school educators recognized as the top in the nation, only one was from Washington state: PLU alumna Erin Jones, an instructional coach at John Rogers High School in Spokane.
In a surprise all-school assembly on Oct. 11, Jones was brought to tears when she learned she’d received a prestigious 2007 Milken Family Foundation Educator Award. It carries with it a $25,000 unrestricted cash prize and a trip to Los Angeles in April for a conference with other winners.
“I was absolutely shocked,” Jones said.
There is no formal application process for the award, so Jones had no idea she’d been nominated. The winners are selected from an applicant pool supplied by each state’s education board.
Jones, who is in her second year of teaching at Rogers, vowed never to be a teacher after witnessing the long, thankless hours put in by her parents. She planned to be a lawyer and tackle “real” international issues, she said.
She changed her mind her senior year of college when she volunteered at an inner city Philadelphia classroom. At the school, she witnessed immense poverty and realized that education – not law – would make a real difference.
“It totally changed my life because I realized these little kids were being hugely impacted by their education, both good and bad,” she said.
After moving to Tacoma years later with her family, Jones received a grant from PLU that paid 80 percent of a teacher’s salary. The grant made it possible for Jones to go back to school and earn her teaching certificate at PLU while also supporting her family.
After earning her credentials, Jones co-created the language immersion program at Stewart Middle School in Tacoma, where she also served as the program coordinator for the Act Six Leadership and Scholarship Initiative.
Last year, Jones and her husband jumped at the opportunity to follow several of the students in the Act Six program to Spokane, where the students were preparing to attend Whitworth University. Spokane is a very “white” city, and most of the students were minorities and would be away from their families for the first time, she explained.
“Several of the kids here had been my middle school students while I was student teaching. When I became the program coordinator for Act Six in 2005, I got totally tied into these kids,” she said.
Neither she nor her husband had jobs lined up in Spokane, but when they arrived, Jones was drawn to the ethnically-diverse Rogers. No jobs were available, but Jones told the principal office she wanted to teach there.
Four days later, she was hired as an instructional coach.
“It’s the best job ever created on the planet,” Jones said. “My gift is encouragement. It has been a great job. I get to work with my peers, encourage teachers, encourage students.”
Along with working with her fellow teachers, Jones teaches a class called Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID), which helps students focus on attending a four-year college. She also started the Ladies of Distinction group that connects female students of color to professional women in the community.
“The best part is the kids, watching the kids really get excited about school,” Jones said. “I always had education – it was a given that I’d have an education. It’s not a given for these kids. And to see the lights shine when they realize how important an education is, it keeps me going back every day to turn another kid on to education.”
University Communications staff writer Megan Haley compiled this report. Comments, questions, ideas? Please contact her at ext. 8691 or at haleymk@plu.edu. Photo provided by Erin Jones.
“I was absolutely shocked,” Jones said.
There is no formal application process for the award, so Jones had no idea she’d been nominated. The winners are selected from an applicant pool supplied by each state’s education board.
Jones, who is in her second year of teaching at Rogers, vowed never to be a teacher after witnessing the long, thankless hours put in by her parents. She planned to be a lawyer and tackle “real” international issues, she said.
She changed her mind her senior year of college when she volunteered at an inner city Philadelphia classroom. At the school, she witnessed immense poverty and realized that education – not law – would make a real difference.
“It totally changed my life because I realized these little kids were being hugely impacted by their education, both good and bad,” she said.
After moving to Tacoma years later with her family, Jones received a grant from PLU that paid 80 percent of a teacher’s salary. The grant made it possible for Jones to go back to school and earn her teaching certificate at PLU while also supporting her family.
After earning her credentials, Jones co-created the language immersion program at Stewart Middle School in Tacoma, where she also served as the program coordinator for the Act Six Leadership and Scholarship Initiative.
Last year, Jones and her husband jumped at the opportunity to follow several of the students in the Act Six program to Spokane, where the students were preparing to attend Whitworth University. Spokane is a very “white” city, and most of the students were minorities and would be away from their families for the first time, she explained.
“Several of the kids here had been my middle school students while I was student teaching. When I became the program coordinator for Act Six in 2005, I got totally tied into these kids,” she said.
Neither she nor her husband had jobs lined up in Spokane, but when they arrived, Jones was drawn to the ethnically-diverse Rogers. No jobs were available, but Jones told the principal office she wanted to teach there.
Four days later, she was hired as an instructional coach.
“It’s the best job ever created on the planet,” Jones said. “My gift is encouragement. It has been a great job. I get to work with my peers, encourage teachers, encourage students.”
Along with working with her fellow teachers, Jones teaches a class called Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID), which helps students focus on attending a four-year college. She also started the Ladies of Distinction group that connects female students of color to professional women in the community.
“The best part is the kids, watching the kids really get excited about school,” Jones said. “I always had education – it was a given that I’d have an education. It’s not a given for these kids. And to see the lights shine when they realize how important an education is, it keeps me going back every day to turn another kid on to education.”
University Communications staff writer Megan Haley compiled this report. Comments, questions, ideas? Please contact her at ext. 8691 or at haleymk@plu.edu. Photo provided by Erin Jones.