Third grade teacher wins $25,000 Milken award

By Emily Richmond

Thursday, Oct. 31, 2002 | 9:36 a.m.

Cheryl DiMartino, a third grade teacher at C.P. Squires Elementary School, never thought she'd win a $25,000 award for classroom excellence.

Turns out, she was wrong.

DiMartino on Wednesday was handed a giant check for $25,000 from financier and philanthropist Michael Milken, on behalf of his family's foundation. DiMartino, 39, was the second Clark County teacher to receive the award this month.

"Let's have a party, guys!" DiMartino announced to the cheering audience of students in the school's cafeteria as she wiped tears from her cheeks.

The Milken Family Foundation will have handed out 100 of the teacher awards by the end of the year, totalling $2.5 million. The winners are kept secret until their names are called at a school assembly. The teachers may spend the money any way they wish.

At the start of the program when Milken asked the students if they knew how to keep a secret, nearly every hand went up -- except for third grader Mason Ingram's. He freely admitted to Milken that if he knew a secret, he would probably tell the whole school.

Mason's candor earned him the honor of reading DiMartino's name from an envelope presented by former Gov. Bob Miller's wife, Sandy Miller.

DiMartino, who has spent all of her 10-year career teaching in Clark County schools, was lauded for her creativity, innovation and determined dedication to each of her students. She was also the recipient this year of a prestigious Fulbright fellowship and recently returned from three weeks of study in Japan.

"The kids just love her," said Squires teacher Jennifer Kennedy. "I go to her for advice all the time. She never runs out of ideas."

Those ideas have included mummifying a fish from the supermarket when teaching her students about ancient Egypt. DiMartino said whenever she gets the sibling of a former student in her class, they always want to know when they will get to duplicate the "cool projects" completed by their brothers and sisters.

"Learning is about touching, feeling and seeing," she said.

DiMartino said she briefly considered a move to an administrative post but decided she would miss her students too much.

"If you're not having fun with your kids, you're doing something wrong," DiMartino said. "I come to work loving every second of it. I'm blessed."

Squires Principal Carol Lark recalled 12 years ago when she dropped in on a classroom where DiMartino, then finishing her degree at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, was teaching.

"She had captivated the children, and I stayed and watched because she captivated me as well," Lark said. "I told her, 'When you get your certificate, come and see me.' And she did."

Milken, who created the foundation in 1982 along with his brother, Lowell, said the assembly was as much for the children as for DiMartino.

"We want them to know that teachers are the ones who train the doctors, the musicians,the lawyers, the athletes and the governors," Milken said. "They just saw a teacher win $25,000 for dedicating herself to their futures. I hope this is a lesson that stays with them for the rest of their lives."