A Wahiawā school administrator has received the Milken Educator Award — which some call “the Oscars of teaching.”
Esther Kwon is an assistant principal at Daniel K. Inouye Elementary School.
She had no idea she would be receiving an award during an assembly on campus. "I was the one who sent out reminders for this assembly," Kwon said. "I thought we were welcoming the superintendent."
Kwon was one of about 40 educators to win the national award this year. Besides the honorary title, each Milken Educator also receives a $25,000 cash prize.
Compared to other national awards, nominations are not accepted for this one. Rather, the Milken Family Foundation collaborates with different state education departments to find educators who meet their criteria for innovative practices and leadership.
Prior to becoming assistant principal, Kwon taught 5th grade for nearly a decade. She created a distance learning program for students from different schools to socialize and listen to music during the pandemic, which she called her "Pineapple Academy."
Her 5th grade class also paired with high school students to create projects for the state’s elementary STEM fair.
In the program’s inaugural year, 100% of Kwon’s students showed growth on diagnostic assessments, with 80% meeting or exceeding grade-level targets in language arts.
Kwon has also led focus groups and published articles on project-based learning and increasing student engagement.
"I think being an educator to me is about seeing the infinite potential in every child and making sure we guide them to be creative and compassionate thinkers wherever they may go, because we are at a military impacted school," Kwon told HPR.
"So their time in Hawaiʻi is very special because sometimes they leave us to go to the continent, so for them to make sure they have a really great experience in Hawaiʻi, and to take the lessons that they learn with them wherever they may go in the future," Kwon said.
Kwon is the only educator from Hawaiʻi to receive the award this year.
