Milken Center announces award winners
By Tribune Staff | Fort Scott Tribune

FORT SCOTT — Lowell Milken Center officials recently announced the recipients of the center's annual Milken Fellowship and Milken Internship Award.

The recipient of the Milken Fellowship Award is Sarah Powley, a high school teacher in Indiana, and the recipient of the Milken Internship Award is Mike Berndt, an elementary school teacher in Olathe. Powley and Berndt arrived in Fort Scott on Sunday for a 10-day stay in which they plan to learn about the purpose and goals of the Milken Center and to take an historical tour of the town.

The Milken Fellowship is awarded on the basis of merit to those educators who have distinguished themselves in teaching respect and understanding through project-based learning. The Milken Intern is chosen among early career educators and graduate students who have proven their potential for educational change through projects that teach respect and understanding. Both educators will receive stipends and allowances during their stay in Fort Scott as they learn at the center, develop and complete outcomes at their respective schools, and assist in center goals.

Powley is an English teacher and department chair at McCutcheon High School in Lafayette, Indiana. She was chosen as a Milken National Educator in 1993. She has led the development of a model Honors English curriculum in the Tippecanoe School Corporation and spearheaded an interdisciplinary program called "Beyond the Pages" to promote reading, literature and the arts through visits from nationally recognized authors such as W.P. Kinsella and poet Gwendolyn Brooks.

Powley and two colleagues established The International Club at McCutcheon, an extracurricular organization that allows students to participate in international service projects. In 2006, she traveled to Rwanda to serve as a guest teacher while studying the country's 1994 genocide. She has also made numerous presentations on the teaching of the Holocaust.

"Sarah is a unique and special individual who makes a difference in the lives of many students," a statement from the Lowell Milken Center said. "Her dedication and devotion to teaching sets an example for teachers everywhere."

Berndt is a third grade teacher at Prairie Center Elementary School in Olathe. He plans to spend time at the Milken Center this summer to study project-based learning and develop a project about an unsung hero. In his short career, Berndt has displayed leadership and sound teaching skills in every endeavor. His creativity is one of his strong points, the Milken Center statement said.

Berndt has been active with the English as a Second Language program, and has been the lead mathematics teacher at his school. He has also been developing his grant writing skills. He graduated from Kansas State University with a bachelors degree in elementary education. He has already received recognition from his school district.

"We are very excited about his tenure at the Center," the Milken Center statement said.

Milken Center officials are inviting the public to meet the two educators and discover how other teachers and students are making a difference in the world in alliance with the true mission of the Lowell Milken Center, 4 S. Main St. The purpose of the center is to aid students and teachers in the development of exciting historic diversity projects that teach respect and understanding of all people.

For more information, visit the center's Web site at www.lowellmilkencenter.org.