Prize teacher
Francis Howell EA's Jennifer Pallardy
wins $25,000 Milken award

Jennifer Pallardy, Reading Recovery leader in the Francis Howell School District and a Francis Howell EA leader, is the recipient of the 2004 Milken Family Foundation National Educator Award.

The honor includes an unrestricted cash prize of $25,000 and an expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C., this spring.

“I was absolutely stunned!” Pallardy says. “I had no idea there was such an award. I felt truly honored just to be considered for such a thing, regardless of the monetary piece. I did not find out about the award until we went to an assembly and Commissioner of Education Kent King began to explain why we had all gathered in the gym. As Mr. King explained the award and then the monetary prize, I still had no idea I was the recipient. Finally, he called me up to the front. I was shocked and humbled.”

Pallardy leads the Reading Recovery program for her district. She spends her days teaching Reading Recovery students and working with the other 25 reading teachers to help them be successful with their students who are struggling with reading. She also coordinates the district’s reading program. She is beginning her eighth year of teaching, working in the Francis Howell School District since 2001.

She stays current in her field and studies research on the best instructional practices for literacy development. She is a master at observing individual students to diagnose reading difficulties and planning instruction to meet their needs.

In five years, she says she hopes to have completed National Board Certification and be working on an administrator’s certificate.

“In ten years, I would like to be teaching at a university and working on a doctorate,” she says.

Pallardy’s favorite part of teaching is working with children and seeing their progress. She also enjoys working with the Reading Recovery teachers in her district. She says they keep her on her toes and help her learn and grow.

“Flexibility is an important quality for all teachers,” Pallardy says. “With children, no two are the same,” she says. “They learn differently, behave differently and have different needs. I try my best to be sensitive to their individual issues, whether the concern is educational or behavioral.”

Not only does Pallardy take her role in the classroom seriously, but she sees her responsibility as an educator going beyond the school doors.

“I feel I’m a good representative of the teaching profession not only because I work well with children and peers, but I am also involved in the political side of education. I am on the executive board of the Francis Howell Education Association and have helped various political campaigns of those who I truly feel have the best interest of children at heart.”

Her wish list for public education includes adequate funding, public support and enough books and supplies for every classroom and every child.

Outside of school, Pallardy’s interests are reading, politics, sewing and shopping. Now, she’ll have a little extra cash for those pleasures. Paying off some loans and shopping for a new house top her what-to-do-with-the-prize-money list.

Pallardy also enjoys spending time with her friends and family and is especially proud of her two sisters, Heather and Elizabeth, who will graduate in May with teaching degrees.

Milken National Educator Award
Pallardy is one of two Missouri educators chosen for the award this year by the Milken Family Foundation and the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. The foundation is based in Santa Monica, CA.

Missouri joined the Milken Educator Awards program in 1996. Since 1987, the Milken Family Foundation has awarded more than $51.9 million to 2,077 outstanding American educators.

The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education coordinates the state-level selection process and appoints an independent panel of educators who recommend candidates for the award. Criteria for the Milken National Educator Award include:

• Exceptional educational talent as evidenced by outstanding instructional practices in the classroom, school and profession
• Outstanding accomplishment and strong long-range potential for professional and policy leadership
• Engaging and inspiring presence that motivates and impacts students, colleagues and the community

During the fall of 2004, 100 exemplary educators and administrators in public schools in 47 states and the District of Columbia were honored as recipients of the Milken Educator Awards.

by Debra Angstead
MNEA communications director