Bumpus Middle School teacher receives $25,000 surprise

As Bumpus Middle School students stood in front of fellow students in the gymnasium, holding up signs that read “$-2-5-0-0,” computer science teacher Vinny Chiaramonte stood along the wall rooting for them to hold up “one more zero.” What he didn’t know was that when the last zero was added, that number — $25,000 — would also be on a check going to him.

“I was shocked,” Chiaramonte said, following the Nov. 28 school assembly. “There’s a lot of great teachers in this school. I don’t know why me. I do love my kids. I do love my jobs. I’m just shocked.”

Chiaramonte was one of 45 honorees — the only from Alabama — to receive a 2017-2018 Milken Educator Award, an award which provides national recognition and a $25,000 unrestricted cash prize to teachers across the country. After his name was announced, Chiaramonte got emotional as he spoke about how the money could help his family.

The $25,000 could go toward paying off some of the cost for his master’s degree or his wife’s degrees, he said, and his gratitude was something he could not express.

“That’s going to help my family so much,” he said. “The honor is amazing.”

While thankful for the cash prize, however, he said he sees the “payoff” from being a teacher in other ways. He sees it in students who write thank you notes after they go on to high school, or in those who return to visit him at Bumpus Middle School.

“That’s the payoff, and the money is great, but if the kids can see and know that we care about them and we want to see them do well, and we believe that they have value, that to me does it,” he said.

Chiaramonte dropped out of school at 16 years old in ninth grade, and while he said he “took the long road” to get to where he was supposed to be, in the end he knew he wanted to be a teacher.

“These kids need somebody speaking positive influence into their lives, so I’m going to go back,” Chiaramonte said he remembers thinking. “I’m going to teach, get my masters and start teaching — specifically in middle school. There’s a lot in the middle school mind, changes — emotional and physically.”

The award was a complete surprise, said Chiaramonte, and neither he nor his colleagues knew exactly what would take place at the assembly.

“They didn’t tell us anything. They said there would be a special guest speaking, and there would be another special guest, and that’s all,” Chiaramonte said. “They kept talking about the honor for the school, and we were like, ‘What’s the honor?’”

That’s one thing all Milken Educator Award recipients get — a big surprise, said Milken Educator Awards Senior Vice President Dr. Jane Foley.

“You cannot apply for this award. You cannot be nominated,” Foley said. “You don’t find us. We find you. We are looking and searching — we’re all over the country trying to find the best of the best.”

The teacher who receives the award also receives a celebration and recognition, Foley said, something that was evident through the school board, city and state school board representatives present at the assembly.

Prior to the big reveal, Bumpus Principal Dr. Tamala Maddox, Assistant Superintendent for Instruction Dr. Ron Dodson, former State Superintendent Dr. Joe Morton with the Business Education Foundation and Foley all discussed the excellence portrayed in Hoover City Schools, as well as in its students and educators. Foley also emphasized the importance of teachers, who she said possess the power to positively influence their students and thereby make a difference in their communities.

“At the Milken Foundation, we believe that educators have the most important job in the country because they have the responsibility of preparing all of you to have a bright future,” Foley said while addressing the crowd of Bumpus students. “… Good teachers make the difference.”

The Milken Foundation aims to recognize and celebrate excellence in the education field, Foley said, a field that can sometimes be overlooked as other fields pass out awards. This award was created as a way to recognize outstanding educators, she added, as well as to emphasize the importance of teachers.

“Only if we elevate the teaching profession will talented young people like you, here at Bumpus Middle, consider a career in education,” Foley said.

In addition to the cash prize, Chiaramonte will join a network of other nationally recognized teachers and attend a Milken Educator Forum in Washington D.C. in March. Some of those educators, past recipients from the state of Alabama, stood alongside Chiaramonte after the presentation.

Dr. Dilhani Uswatte, principal of Rocky Ridge Elementary School, was one of those recipients. Uswatte received the award in 2009 and said she first recognized Chiaramonte’s love and passion for teaching as she did a mock interview with him for 2015-16 teacher of the year. He went on to be honored as a top teacher in the state.

“Vinny, this is a really big deal. When you talk about meeting amazing people, they are in this room, and all kinds of doors are going to continue to open for you,” Uswatte said, welcoming Chiaramonte to the “Milken Family.”

“It’s so obvious to me and anyone who listens to him that he is here for all the right reasons,” Uswatte said. “He wants more for his kids, he wants more for our school district, he wants more for the state. He doesn’t think just about his own classroom. He thinks big.”

As Chiaramonte joins other Milken Award winners, from this year and previous years, Uswatte reemphasized that this award opens so many doors for educators. He will meet the “cream of the crop,” she said, and will have the opportunity to collaborate on national and state issues.

“One thing that Vinny has in common with all these other people is that we love our jobs,” Uswatte said. “It’s not a job. We believe it’s been a calling, and it’s all about, at the end of the day, our students. If we can enrich their lives, if we can make them love learning, then we have done our jobs. And our cities, our country and our state will be better off for it.”

You can find more information on the Milken Educator Award here.