Inspiring and creative Wake County teacher wins prestigious award and $25,000

Lightfoot, who has already been named Teacher of the Year twice at two different Wake County schools, received the national Milken Educator Award Friday during an assembly at Millbrook Magnet Elementary School.

Lightfoot was most recently a third grade teacher at Cedar Fork Elementary and is now an instructional coach who works with teachers to plan and improve their lessons.

The excellence award from the Milken Family Foundation is specifically for early-to-mid educators like Lightfoot, who is one of only two honorees from North Carolina during for the 2021-22 school year.

At Friday's ceremony, state Superintendent of Public Instruction Catherine Truitt said Lightfoot's "devotion to education and her focus on powerful teaching and learning has made a measurable difference not only for her students, but also for her colleagues in their own classrooms. She inspires her students and empowers other teachers."

Wake County Public Schools Superintendent Cathy Moore offered additional praise, saying, “She is positive, thoughtful, resourceful and makes meaningful and lasting connections with our young learners. Her students and colleagues know how incredible she is, and we are grateful to the Milken Foundation for recognizing her with this prestigious award.”

Lightfoot is known at school for her creativity and for motivating students and teachers.

A parent of one of her students recalled that, during remote learning, "Lightfoot was so engaging that she often wanted to just sit and listen to her read during her interactive read-alouds."

Data also shows how well Lightfoot's students perform, with nearly 90% of her students reaching grade-level proficiency on the state’s end-of-grade reading tests in the 2018-19 school year.