Discovery Middle School’s Kelsey Cooper brings meaning to math with real-world examples

MADISON – In a surprise assembly early Friday Kelsey Cooper, an eighth-grade math teacher at Discovery Middle School, received a $25,000 Milken Educator Award for her excellence and innovation in education. Cooper epitomizes creativity and leadership as she creates real-world math problems for her students to engage in, invites parents into the education process with consistent communication between her students and their families, and even sends off each student with a handwritten note at the end of every school year.

Milken Educator Awards Senior Vice President Dr. Jane Foley and Alabama State Superintendent of Public Education Dr. Eric Mackey surprised Cooper with the honor before cheering students, colleagues, state and local officials, and the media. Cooper is among more than 60 educators nationwide to receive the recognition during the 2021-2022 school year.

Hailed as the “Oscars of Teaching,” the Milken Educator Awards celebrate, elevate and activate the American teaching profession and inspire young, capable people to join it.

“Teachers who can make complex education tasks like linear equations and the Pythagorean Theorem come to life are a gift to their students, creating real-world applications for every-day learning,” commented Dr. Foley, who herself is a 1994 Milken Educator from Indiana. “Educators like Kelsey Cooper are unique and invaluable to their communities, and that’s exactly who the Milken Family Foundation seeks to honor through the Awards.”

The Milken Educator Award is not a lifetime achievement honor. Recipients are heralded while early to mid-career for what they have achieved — and for the promise of what they will accomplish given the resources and opportunities inherent in the Award.

“We extend our state’s sincere congratulations to Madison City School System teacher Kelsey Cooper for being named a national Milken Educator,” said State Superintendent of Education, Dr. Eric Mackey. “Providing students with both real-world and group-oriented learning experiences has been shown to be an effective classroom tool. Milken Educator Kelsey Cooper has developed a dynamic learning environment within her local school system, which promotes K-12 mathematics knowledge, independent student thinking, and advanced problem solving. Her commitment to furthering student achievement using innovative technology and best practice classroom instruction is truly an outstanding example of educational leadership. With the consistent support from her local school system, parents, and wonderful colleagues, Mrs. Cooper has been able to inspire students to thrive academically at even greater levels of achievement. The state of Alabama is truly thankful to the Milken Family Foundation for this wonderful opportunity it has created for highly qualified educators to be recognized nationally, for their classroom and teaching success. Milken Educator Kelsey Cooper is an outstanding example of K-12 excellence.”

Oprah, a longtime education advocate, shared her congratulations to this year’s winners in a video message shared earlier this week thanking “the most incredible educators around the country” and acknowledging her deep appreciation for the “tireless work” they do.

More about Kelsey Cooper

Innovation: Cooper’s classroom is like Grand Central Station: a beehive of productive activity where learning goals are evident and students buzz with enthusiasm and confidence. Cooper covers her walls with real-world math activities and problems ready for solving. Students cluster in small learning groups with peers, learning to work as a team, and present evidence to support their ideas in an environment that supports questioning and promotes risk-taking. They create blueprints for water parks when learning about linear equations and the Pythagorean Theorem, design city maps to demonstrate understanding of parallel lines cut by a transversal, and write stories whose characters represent shifts in quadratic equations.

Communication: During the pandemic, Cooper’s ease with technology and devotion to the well-being of both students and colleagues made her invaluable. She helped the math department with instructional pacing, creating a seamless transition for students who had to quarantine and used virtual breakout rooms to maintain student collaboration. She joined daily one-on-one online visits with students, for both math assistance and social-emotional check-ins. Cooper reached out to parents daily during the pandemic to make sure families were up to date on their students’ work. The relationships Cooper builds with pupils and families are genuine and long-standing. When students leave her classroom, she gives each a handwritten letter with a return address, so they can always reach her if they need her.

Leadership: Cooper, who started at Discovery as a student teacher, has led the school’s math department for three years and is highly respected by her colleagues. She became a National Board Certified Teacher in 2019 and now mentors colleagues going through the certification process. Cooper takes a team approach to professional learning, looking for and supporting her colleagues’ strengths. In addition to her work in the classroom, she coaches softball, sponsors several clubs and works with student teachers.

Education: Cooper earned a bachelor’s in 2015 from Athens State University and is currently pursuing a master’s in instructional leadership from University of West Alabama.