Frankie Digirolamo Day (BACH 1991; MS 1995), a Louisiana State University Laboratory School first-grade instructor, was stunned to receive the news of her selection as a 2008 Milken National Educator Award Recipient on October 16, 2008. The Award, which comes with an unrestricted cash prize of $25,000, was presented by Louisiana First Lady Supriya Jindal and Milken Family Foundation Chairman and Co-Founder Lowell Milken during a school-wide assembly overflowing with cheering students, proud colleagues, and dignitaries.

Day had no idea that the event featuring special guests Louisiana Superintendent of Education Paul Pastorek and football legend Rosey Grier was held to surprise her with one of education’s most prestigious honors.

“The Milken Educator Awards say, in a very public way, that greatness in education must be recognized and rewarded,” Lowell Milken said. “Nothing in America’s K-12 schools has more influence on student learning than the quality of the classroom teacher. Highly effective teachers like Frankie Day are the bedrock in constructing a world-class education system that meets our challenges and opportunities in this 21st century. It is a national imperative that we attract, retain, and motivate people of talent to the profession. America’s prosperity depends on it.”

Frankie Day has helped students of all ability levels make significant academic gains, both as a former literacy coach at Highland Elementary, and in her current role. She was a literacy coach for eight years before joining the Lab School because she missed teaching in the classroom.

“Being in the classroom is the most rewarding place to be,” Day said. “I’m inspired by these children.”

As a National Board Certified teacher, Day implements and models research-based instructional practices such as guided reading, shared reading, Writer’s Workshop, learning centers, and technology integration. Her inquiry-based, interdisciplinary curriculum allows students to investigate units of study based on what they know and want to learn; she frequently uses assessments and rubrics to drive and plan instructions. “As an educator you have to reflect on how you can make your students understand and excel to their full potential,” Day explained. “I’ve always wanted to be a teacher that focused on individual students and based lessons on how they learned best.” Day involves parents in their children’s education by organizing classroom events such as Pumpkin Pizzazz, in which parents and students work together to measure and weigh pumpkins and graph their findings.

As a result of her effective teaching, students leave her class as motivated, independent, high-level thinkers, well prepared for second grade. Nearly all of Day’s students were reading above grade-level last year according to results on the Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA), and none were reading below grade level.

As a member of the school’s Instructional Council, Day has served on numerous committees, trains new teachers as a mentor under the Louisiana Teacher Assistance and Assessment Program (LaTAAP), and has presented workshops at local, state, and national levels.

The Milken Educator Award recipients are honored in early to mid-career for what they have achieved and for the promise of what they will accomplish in the future. “I am just truly honored that I was selected, because everyone here at the Lab School is worthy of that award. I accepted it for all of the children and for all of the phenomenal teachers I’ve been surrounded by,” Day said. Day and the other 2008 recipients of the Milken Award will be recognized during the Milken National Education Conference held April 17-19 in Los Angeles. They will also join the Milken Educator Network, a group of distinguished educators whose expertise serves as a valuable resource to fellow educators, legislators, school boards, and others shaping the future of education.