West Hartford Teacher Surprised With Prestigious National Award

WEST HARTFORD, CT — West Hartford teacher Anna Capobianco was surprised with a prestigious Milken Educator Award Tuesday afternoon at Hall High School. Capobianco, an English teacher at Hall, is the only Milken Educator Award winner from Connecticut this year and the first from West Hartford since 1998. She is among up to 45 honorees who will receive this national recognition and unrestricted $25,000 cash prize for 2017-18, according to Milken officials.

Milken Educator Awards Senior Vice President Dr. Jane Foley surprised Capobianco during the secret announcement at an all-school assembly at Hall on Tuesday. Connecticut Commissioner of Education Dr. Dianna Wentzell joined West Hartford Public Schools Superintendent Thomas Moore in recognizing Capobianco’s outstanding teaching efforts. (See video of the surprise announcement at the end of this story)

Whether it’s piloting a new Advanced Placement course, developing teacher guidelines for implementation of Google Classroom or inspiring colleagues to adopt “Nonfiction Fridays,” Capobianco engages students, parents and faculty to reach high standards and exemplary outcomes. Capobianco works to ensure her students explore complex topics and examine perspectives by reading literary and informational texts and writing expository essays.

“We are thrilled and so proud that the Milken Family Foundation has chosen to honor Anna this year,” Moore said in a press release. “As hundreds of her students will no doubt attest, they got it right. Anna is an educational superstar.”

Hall Principal Daniel Zittoun said, “The reason Anna is such an outstanding educator is she never forgets to put the student first. She knows how to make her students take ownership of their learning and have them be the stars.”

Read more from the press release below:

The Milken Educator Awards, hailed by Teacher magazine as the “Oscars of Teaching” has been opening minds and shaping futures for 30 years. Research shows teacher quality is the driving in-school factor behind student growth and achievement. The initiative not only aims to reward great teachers, but to celebrate, elevate and activate those innovators in the classroom who are guiding America’s next generation of leaders. Milken Educators believe, “The future belongs to the educated.”

“Anna Capobianco has a great capacity for instilling and precipitating excellence because of the enduring partnerships she creates with each student,” Foley said. “She focuses on individual student learning opportunities that optimize their personal improvement, and students repeatedly credit her for their academic growth. She is a ‘leader from behind’ in the classroom, on campus and in the district. We applaud her commitment to education and look forward to the continued impact she’ll make as an outstanding Milken Educator.”

“Anna Capobianco has high expectations for all of her students and helps them rise to their potential,” said Commissioner Dianna Wentzell. “She recognizes the importance of taking every student from where they are to where they can be through effective instruction, academic support, and family engagement. Ms. Capobianco is a teacher leader who is highly respected for her ability to inspire those around her to strive for excellence. We congratulate Ms. Capobianco, Hall High School, and West Hartford on this well-deserved honor.”

About Milken Educator Anna Capobianco

English teacher Anna Capobianco leads her students at West Hartford’s Hall High School to ever-greater heights. When the College Board introduced its new AP Seminar course, Capobianco eagerly volunteered to pioneer it at Hall, helping the organization refine the curriculum and reading AP exams at the end of the year. Nearly all of Capobianco’s AP Seminar students passed the new course’s exam, with five of the 16 earning 5’s, the highest score. In addition to AP classes, Capobianco also team-teaches an English class with a reading interventionist; last year, the entire class reached grade-level performance by the end of school. Hall students turn to Capobianco for support beyond the classroom; she stays in touch with many students as they move on to college, and Hall graduates often cite her influence as foundational to their success.

Capobianco connects with her students through humor, a welcoming tone, and an energetic approach that engages all learning styles. She stresses problem-solving and critical analysis, helps students set rigorous and attainable learning goals, and encourages them to stretch intellectually through programs like Nonfiction Fridays, in which students lead class discussions about articles and books tied to the week’s theme. Nonfiction Fridays have been so successful that all 14 English teachers at Hall now use the program in their classrooms.

Capobianco is well-versed in Universal Design for Learning (UDL), ensuring that her lessons are accessible to all students and adjusting her instruction based on embedded formative assessments. She piloted professional development for UDL and offers help both formally and informally to colleagues across the district. Capobianco also developed lessons and led teacher training for Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) and Google Classroom. She serves on Hall’s English Language Arts (ELA) team, the district’s curriculum council, and the Connecticut State Department of Education’s Learn Zillion “Teacher Dream Team.” As one of the developers of Hall’s advisory program, Capobianco mentors student teachers, serves on interview committees, and guest lectures in the Alternative Route to Certifications program for the state’s Office of Higher Education.

Capobianco earned a bachelor’s degree in English in 2006 and a master’s in English Education in 2007 from the University of Connecticut, plus a master’s in teacher leadership in 2011 from Walden University.

Milken Educators are selected in early to mid-career for what they have achieved and for the promise of what they will accomplish. In addition to the $25,000 prize and public recognition, Capobiancos’ honor includes membership in the National Milken Educator Network, a group of more than 2,700 top teachers, principals and specialists dedicated to strengthening education.

In addition to participation in the Milken Educator Network, 2017-18 recipients will attend a Milken Educator Forum in Washington, D.C., March 20-23, 2018. Educators will have the opportunity to network with their new colleagues and hear from state and federal officials about maximizing their leadership roles to advance educator effectiveness.

Photos courtesy of the Milken Family Foundation