O.C. Educator Receives Milken Award

Judith Magsaysay was having one of those nightmarish days as principal at Pio Pico Elementary School in Santa Ana when she was asked to speak at an assembly attended by numerous district big-wigs.

Instead, the gathering turned into a surprise celebration--with Magsaysay as the flabbergasted guest of honor: The 18-year educator was among 138 teachers and principals nationwide named winners of the Milken Family National Educational Award.

On Saturday, Magsaysay received the $25,000 check that accompanied the award, which she said she would use “when my two boys force me to take them on that long-promised trip to Hawaii.”

Other local winners included Rhoda Coleman, a fifth-grade teacher in the bilingual education program at Buford Elementary near Los Angeles International Airport and Eleanor Vargas, a special education teacher at Murchison Elementary in Los Angeles.

Wearing their yellow award ribbons, they gathered Saturday at the Century Plaza Hotel prior to the awards dinner that capped a week of seminars, guest speakers and networking with some of the leading teachers and principals in the nation--all fellow winners.

The Milken awards, sponsored by brothers Lowell and Michael Milken, the fallen financier, honored educators chosen from millions of leading professionals.

Key to the award is a $25,000 check recipients can spend in any way they choose. Magsaysay, 41, of Yorba Linda, said the big check came as a shock.

“On the day of that assembly when I found out, I was just absolutely stupefied,” she said.

She said she thanked the school official who gave her the news--Santa Ana School District Deputy Supt. John Bennett--in an unusual fashion.

“I hugged him and I slugged him at the same time,” she said. “They had me fooled.”

Coleman, 50, of Glendale, has been a teacher for 28 years. She instructs bilingual students during a critical year of their transfer from Spanish to English. The award recognized her classroom use of costumes and role-playing--as well as the use of laser discs and other computer technology--to make difficult lessons easier.

“If we’re talking about immigration issues, I’ll come to class dressed as my own grandmother--with a long black skirt and a tablecloth for a babushka--and I’ll tell my grandmother’s immigrant story as I introduce them to the vocabulary,” she said.

Vargas, 58, of South Pasadena, was recognized for a unique reading and literacy program that officials say has brought astounding results.