On October 31, in the high school new gym, Mrs. Cole won the Milken Educator Award, which is known as the “Oscars of teaching awards” during an in-school assembly. Teachers and administrators can win this award by having “impressive achievement” in the early-mid stages of their career. This award is only given out to the 45 best teachers each year, nationwide. This award also comes with $25,000, which recipients can spend however they want.

Pedro Rivera, Pennsylvania’s secretary of education, and Jane Foley, the Milken Educator Awards senior vice president were at the assembly and said that they were going to award the prestigious Milken award to a teacher from SRHS. No one knew who was going to win until they announced it. In the moments before the award was presented there was curiosity in the air, along with excitement after Foley announced that the winner would receive $25,000.

Just before the she was announced as the winner of the award, Mrs. Cole said that she and Mrs. Mooney were talking about who the winner of the award would be. Once they called her name, she was so shocked that Mrs. Mooney grabbed her arms and said, “It was you! You won!”

As she started walking up, one of her students gave her a big hug. Mrs. Cole calls that “The best congratulations she could get from anybody.”

Once she got up to the podium she was told that she was going to have to give a small speech. Thinking quickly, Mrs. Cole said that she “spoke from the heart.”