Local teacher gets award of $25,000

By Jesse Tarbert
Times Snohomish County bureau

E-mail this article Print this article Search archive

EVERETT — The students and staff at an assembly yesterday morning at Mariner High School thought they were going to hear state Superintendent of Public Instruction Terry Bergeson discuss the Washington Assessment of Student Learning and the school's Literacy Week program.

"But there's a secret, special reason why I'm here today," Bergeson said as she introduced a guest.

Financier and philanthropist Michael Milken stepped to the podium and told the crowd that a teacher in the Mukilteo School District school had won a $25,000 Milken Family Foundation National Educator Award. The award was then presented to reading teacher Tami Nesting.

"I don't know what to say," Nesting said, after getting a round of hugs from Bergeson, Milken and several students and staffers.

Nesting, 41, has been at Mariner for 12 years. She tried to deflect the attention, insisting, "It's not about me, it's about the kids."

Nesting, who is doing graduate work at Western Washington University, said she would use the money to pay her tuition this year.

Milken established the Milken Family Foundation in 1982 with his brother, Lowell Milken. In addition to education, the foundation supports medical research.

Michael Milken is perhaps best known for his work in financial markets during the 1970s and 1980s, and for his 22-month incarceration for securities violations.

"One or two educators can make a difference in an entire community," he said yesterday. "The future of our country is dependent on students making the decision to go into education."

The National Educator Awards first were given in 1987. Candidates are recommended to the foundation by the state Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. There is no application process.

This year, 47 states are participating. Since Washington joined the program in 1994, $900,000 has been given to 36 educators in the state.

Nesting is the second Washington educator to receive the award this year. The state's other winner is Kim Ellett, a math teacher at Lewisville Middle School in Battle Ground, Clark County.

As students filed into Nesting's fourth-period reading class yesterday, they stopped to admire the oversized check on the white board at the front of the classroom.

"She's the greatest teacher ever," sophomore Trevon Shepherd said.

Jesse Tarbert: 206-464-2540 or jtarbert@seattletimes.com

Copyright © 2003 The Seattle Times Company