Las Cruces teacher receives $25,000 Milken Foundation award

Sonoma Elementary School fourth-grade teacher Christopher Nuñez has won a $25,000 cash prize as the 2022 Milken Family Foundation Educator Award for New Mexico.

He received the award in California from Lowell Milken, awards founder and co-founder of the foundation and Michael Milken, co-founder and president of the foundation.

Nuñez was one of 35 teachers from across the United States honored with the 2022 award.

The gala celebration culminated a professional development experience for Milken Educators to “Celebrate, Elevate and Activate” K-12 teaching, the foundation said in a news release.

The first Milken Educator Awards were presented in 1987. The awards “provide public recognition and individual financial rewards to elementary and secondary school teachers, principals and specialists from around the country who are furthering excellence in education,” the foundation said. “From the original cadre of 12 outstanding educators in California, the Milken Educator Network has grown to a nationwide force of more than 2,900 educators.”

Here, in part, is what the Milken Family Foundation said about Nuñez:

“At the end of each day, Nuñez has students answer exit ticket questions based on the day’s learning targets and assess their own understanding of the concepts with green, yellow and red stickers. In the after-school programs he leads, students conduct interviews and write human interest stories for Sonoma’s broadcast channel. In “Reader’s Theater,” they read a play, rework the characters or ending, then act it out for their peers. Nuñez’s students excel, growing from 70 percent to 100 percent proficient on the iReady Math assessment and ending the year with 92 percent on the Star Reading test.

“A member of Sonoma’s leadership team, Nuñez championed the idea of dividing the school into six ‘houses’ to strengthen connections among students in different grades. Each house has a focus; Team Vision brainstorms new ideas and encourages collaboration, while Team Atlas centers on love and kindness. Nuñez leads professional development in technology and math, and he helps new staff members navigate classroom issues, content area questions and technology. He has shepherded the adoption of new textbooks as Sonoma’s social studies lead and works with colleagues on data analysis and backwards planning. Nuñez participated in Harvard University’s Partnership for Enhancing Mathematics, recording his lessons and working with coaches to refine his teaching practice. During the pandemic, Nuñez went above and beyond to make sure learning was accessible for all, providing extra Zoom help for English language arts and math intervention groups and creating highly interactive lessons using breakout rooms, annotation, Jamboard, Nearpod and Canvas.

“Nuñez understands students’ social-emotional needs and fosters an environment of respect and trust. He is a leader in implementing Sonoma’s restorative practices, working with students to talk about and find resolutions to conflicts. Student-driven and committed to the community, Nunez hails from a family of educators; both parents teach in Las Cruces Public Schools.”

Nunez earned a bachelor’s in elementary education in 2009 from New Mexico State University.

Visit www.milkeneducatorawards.org/educators/view/christopher-nunez and www.milkeneducatorawards.org.