Jessica Stoen, a Northern Cass Elementary School second-grade teacher and 2017 NDSU graduate, had no idea she would be receiving one of the top honors an educator can be awarded when she stepped into a schoolwide assembly on Feb. 14.
By the end of the assembly, Stoen learned she was the recipient of the prestigious national Milken Educator Award for the 2024-25 school year. The Award comes with a $25,000 cash prize that Stoen can use for any purpose.
The assembly was attended by North Dakota State School Superintendent, Kirsten Baesler. Stoen’s children, Eagan, who is in her second-grade class, and Autillie, a preschooler at Northern Cass Elementary, were also present to cheer on their mom alongside the rest of the school.
Stoen remembers feeling gratitude, joy and love as she celebrated her achievement with her colleagues and students.
“It’s an honor that I can’t even put into words what it means to me. It’s so special,” Stoen said.
Stoen’s impact in and outside of the classroom has been noticeable by her current and former students, colleagues and by the panelists who selected her as the recipient of the award. Stoen credits her Master of Education in educational leadership from NDSU as her stepping stone to allowing her to get outside her comfort zone to become a leader to her students and teachers across North Dakota.
The opportunity to earn her master’s degree arose when Stoen learned about NDSU’s Leadership Academy Program, which is designed for teachers in North Dakota school districts. The program allows cohorts of educators across the state to earn their degrees together.
“It really made me recognize that I can be a leader from right where I’m at,” Stoen said.
Throughout the 18-month program Stoen worked alongside her colleagues through impromptu speeches and scenarios that may arise in their roles. Since earning her master’s, Stoen has presented at several state conferences.
“I’m making an impact not only on my littles (students) that I get to be with every day and my colleagues, but my master’s through NDSU gave me the confidence to stretch myself and present at these things so I could impact others,” she said. “Now I’m impacting educators across the state and their learners across the state. It has allowed me to have a greater impact than I would have had if I was just in the four walls of my classroom.”
Inside the classroom, Stoen strives to ensure her students are gaining the skills necessary to be successful. One example is instilling in her students the “Portrait of a Learner” attributes aligned to the school district’s goals: accountability, communication, adaptability, learner’s mindset and leadership. These traits nurture independence in student learning and guide them on a path to future success in whatever career path they choose.
“It’s really the soft skills that all humans need to be successful,” Stoen said. “You need those academic skills, but there’s so much more to that when you get into the real world.”
Thinking back to her path to becoming an educator, Stoen said teaching wasn’t always her first career choice. As she neared graduating high school, Stoen said she initially planned to become an optometrist. It wasn’t until she did a student-to-work experience at Steele-Dawson Elementary School with Mrs. Olson’s third grade class when Stoen realized teaching was the path for her.
“After the first day in her classroom I went to my high school counselor and I was like ‘I need to be a teacher,’” Stoen said. “And he goes ‘I know. I just needed you to figure it out.’”
Her favorite thing about her job includes connecting with her students.
“I’m in this classroom every day with these kids because I love them, and that’s my favorite part,” she said. “I get to form this family every year. I care about them so much. I’m attending their events outside of school, I’m connecting with their families and making sure that when they walk into the classroom, they know that they’re cared for, they’re supported, they’re respected and they’re loved.”
Hailed as the “Oscar of Teaching,” the Milken Educator Award was created by philanthropist and education visionary Lowell Milken in 1987 to further excellence in education and inspire the next generation of educators. Recipients of the award are selected by a blue-ribbon panel appointed by each state’s department of education who seek out teachers across the country who are furthering excellence in education.
“When I think about that, I keep thinking, wow, here I am just a small-town girl from North Dakota living my dream every day, doing what I love. How did they find me?” Stoen said. “Just the fact that they found me on the map makes it much more special too.”
Stoen is the sole North Dakota 2024-25 Milken Educator Award recipient. The awards will honor up to 45 recipients across the country in 2024-25 as part of the Milken Family Foundation's Journey to the 3,000th Milken Educator.
The honorees attend an all-expenses-paid Milken Educator Awards Forum in Los Angeles in April, where they will network with their new colleagues as well as veteran Milken Educators and other education leaders about how to broaden their impact on K-12 education.
Stoen said she hopes that people recognize the hard work and dedication of all educators who care deeply about their students.
“I am beyond honored to receive this prestigious award and I just wish all of my colleagues could be honored,” she said. “I wish all of our educators across the state could be recognized because I know how hard each of them are working and I just wish the outside world could see that too. I just hope my ability to share things now being recognized that that’s something I can continue to share with others. They need that recognition, they need that appreciation and to just know that people are grateful for the work they’re doing.”
Photo courtesy of the Milken Family Foundation
