Charlotte-Area School Teacher Gets Surprise Of Lifetime

A Bessemer City, N.C. assistant principal got the surprise of a lifetime Monday and became $25,000 richer in the process. Bessemer City High School Assistant Principal Meghan LeFevers is North Carolina’s only Milken Educator Award recipient this year as local and state officials handed her a $25,000 check during an all-school assembly.

Known as the Oscar's of teaching, the award recognizes excellence in education throughout the country. The award was presented at the school, located about 25 miles west of Charlotte, by North Carolina’s State Superintendent of Education Mark Johnson and Milken Educator Awards Senior Vice President Dr. Jane Foley.

“Whether she's using data to pair students with the most appropriate teachers to fit their learning styles or coaching math teachers on pacing and instruction techniques to lift test scores, LeFevers is a creative administrator and educator who's always looking for new ways to help students overcome physical and social challenges to excel in unanticipated ways," according to award officials. "Working across the educational spectrum from gifted students to the disabled, she strives to maximize the potential of each and every student, especially those from underserved communities.”

An example of how LeFevers put creativity into action, according to Johnson, is when she helped develop an innovative schoolwide learning plan that includes personalized feedback and intervention for every student.

LeFevers is among only 44 honorees nationwide for the 2017-18 school year.

The award program has been hailed by Teacher magazine as the "Oscars of Teaching,” and has disbursed at least $68 million in individual $25,000 awards for candidates sourced through a confidential selection process and then reviewed by blue ribbon panels appointed by state departments of education.

Watch below as Meghan LeFevers is surprised on Monday with the award:

Photo and video courtesy Milken Educator Awards