"Oscar of Teaching" goes to John Muir's Manuel Rustin
Pasadena, CA (January 31, 2012)—A seemingly routine schoolwide assembly turned into the surprise of a lifetime when the Milken Family Foundation (MFF) honored—and stunned—Manuel Rustin, a social studies teacher at John Muir High School, with a Milken Educator Award. The Award, presented by MFF Chairman and Co-Founder Lowell Milken, comes with a no-strings-attached cash prize of $25,000. Among the leaders participating in the ceremony were CA Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson and Pasadena Unified School District Superintendent Jon R. Gundry.
This year marks MFF's 25th anniversary recognizing and rewarding America's top teachers with what Teacher Magazine deems "the Oscars of Teaching." The Awards program was conceived by Lowell Milken. Each year exceptional teachers, principals and specialists—recommended without their knowledge by a blue-ribbon panel appointed by each state's department of education—are surprised with the news of their awards.
Manuel Rustin is an education game-changer who empowers students and teachers to exceed their own expectations of what is possible. He is an inspiration and example for communities, policymakers, and students who may be inspired to enter the profession, and for all of our nation's K-12 educators."
Rustin, a 2003 UCLA graduate with a B.A. in History and a minor in Education Studies, earned an M.Ed. in Teaching and Curriculum from Harvard Graduate School of Education in 2004. As lead teacher for John Muir High's Smaller Learning Community (SLC) in Arts, Entertainment and Media (AEM), Rustin creates such a stimulating environment that when he offered a state test prep boot camp after school for a group of 30 students, 60 lined the halls ready to go. Rustin made room for them all.
Rustin also drives his students to think independently and prepares them for college. In his classes, they become versed in performing self-assessments and charting goals. Rustin conducts his own assessments of students at the beginning, middle and end of the year. In a school that had traditionally been underperforming, Rustin's students are seeing noticeable gains in achievement.
In addition to his daily duties, Rustin is responsible for coordinating student recruitment and internships for his SLC as well as providing professional development for fellow staff. He is a member of the school's leadership team and its Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) site team, as well as a lead trainer for Thinking Maps—a common visual language and graphic organizing system for note-taking—now in every classroom. Rustin was instrumental in the overall redesign of the school into SLCs, and his AEM SLC became certified in June 2011.
New recipients are invited to 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.The Milken Awards alternates yearly between elementary and secondary educators. Each participating state department of education appoints an independent blue ribbon committee to review candidates that are sourced through a confidential selection process and recommend candidates to the Foundation. For more information about the Milken Educator Awards, visit http://www.mff.org or call the Foundation at (310) 570-4775.
