WINONA — The National Institute for Excellence in Teaching (NIET) announced Tuesday that Winona Middle School won $10,000 as an NIET Founder’s Award finalist.
The prestigious Founder’s Award was created by Lowell Milken in 2008 to honor one school in the United States each year for exceptional implementation of NIET’s principles to build educator excellence and advance student success. Winona Middle School is among five schools across the country under consideration for the $50,000 grand prize, which will be announced at the NIET’s national conference on Feb. 29.
“Winona Middle School’s effort to systematically strengthen educator effectiveness, leadership opportunities, and support has been nothing less than transformational,” Milken said in a press release. “Under Principal Johnny Walker, collaboration and morale are high, reaping historic gains in student achievement growth and positioning the school as a destination of choice for new teachers. Congratulations to Winona Middle staff and Superintendent Damenion Miller on their significant progress and serving as an inspiration for others.”
Founder’s Award finalists like Winona Middle School are selected by NIET based on several factors, including their efforts to make instructional excellence the foundation of school improvement, plans for regular professional learning focused on the real-time needs of teachers and students, creating a culture of collaboration and reflection, and leveraging teacher leaders and administrators to drive student growth, according to the organization.