(upbeat music) - The Milken Educator Award goes to Taylor Trost.

(crowd cheers) - You just saw the video of this extraordinary announcement about Taylor Trost, who is elementary school teacher in Hightstown, New Jersey, a Milken Educator awardee.

Taylor, great to have you with us, congratulations.

- Thank you so much.

I'm happy to be here.

- Now, I wanna ask you what the, tell us what the Milken Award is first, and then I wanna talk about how you found out.

- Yeah, so the Milken Family Foundation is an organization that its goal is to recognize teachers.

They, you know, focus their thinking on that teachers are kind of unsung heroes, and so they search the entire country secretly without the teachers knowing to, you know, award and celebrate and recognize teachers that they think are doing something great for education.

It's a huge network of really incredible educators, principals, leaders, and so it's really just a super incredible honor to even be considered a part of the organization.

- How'd they find you?

- You know, that is still a mystery.

(Steve laughs) They seek out and kind of look you up and find out things that you are doing in your classroom through things like social media and your administration.

I remember them saying that you can't be nominated, they find you, and so that's what makes it a really cool process 'cause you know that they kind of organically decided that you are someone that is doing something great in the classroom.

- We should also make it clear it's 25 grand, unrestricted money, $25,000.

So-- - That was a shock.

(laughs) - Okay, so you're in the gym.

- [Taylor] Yep.

- [Steve] Do you know why you were in the gym?

- No, so I actually was on maternity leave.

Everyone was preparing for an assembly which was a little bit more organic, but I was asked by my principal multiple times to come in.

I just had given birth to my twin boys, (Steve claps) and so I had turned down, thank you, I had turned down the offer multiple times, but the invitation became more and more firm that I must attend.

(Steve laughs) And so I just thought it was gonna be a good opportunity to catch up with coworkers that I hadn't seen in a little bit, show off some baby pictures, see some kids, and it turned out to be a big surprise of a lifetime.

- When you heard your name, what did it feel like?

- I think that my first words was that I was shaking afterwards.

I think you see that in the video.

I just could not believe that the way that they spoke about the educator that they were announcing was in connection to my name, and it was shocking, I mean, I just, I barely remembered it at that moment between, you know, postpartum brain and just the shock of it all, it really was a mind-blowing moment.

- We're gonna show the video of you calling your mom right after in a couple minutes, but I'm curious about something.

- Yeah.

- Fourth grade, right?

- Yes.

- What's it mean, inclusion class?

- So, the past couple years I've been a teacher in an inclusion classroom, which means that there are both general education students and students who are classified with special education needs mixed into the classroom to, you know, create exposure and community, and it really is a beautiful structure of a classroom because everybody just becomes super inclusive and welcoming of people's differences and needs.

It's really an awesome program.

- When did you know you wanted to teach?

- I knew when I was very young that I wanted to do something with people, and it wasn't until I was applying to colleges that I felt kind of stuck on what my major would be, and I looked around and thought about the most impactful people around me and all of them were educators, and so I thought, you know, it's a great combination to be able to work with kids to make a difference and hopefully, you know, be a memorable person in somebody's life in their future.

- You've seen this video a lot of you calling your mom.

Now, did they tell you, you call your mom, or call somebody in your family?

- No, they say call somebody who you would like to tell the news to.

My husband's also a teacher, so I knew I couldn't call him.

He has, you know, classes.

(Steve claps) So I figured-- - Did he know?

Hold on, did your husband know?

- No, nobody has any idea.

Nobody knows except for your building principal and the foundation, from what I understand.

- So you didn't call your husband 'cause he was teaching.

- I knew he wouldn't answer.

And if you're on camera, you're gonna call someone who's gonna pick up, and who always picks up but your mother?

- [Mother] Hello?

- Okay, I'm warning you that you're on speaker.

(both laugh) - [Mother] Okay.

- I just won the Milken Educator Award and $25,000.

- [Mother] What?

- Yeah.

It's like, - (laughs) What?

- this crazy national award.

It's like the Oscars of teaching.

- [Mother] Oh my god.

You're kidding me, right?

- No.

- [Mother] Oh my goodness, Taylor.

(laughs) - I know, it's crazy.

- [Mother] Oh my goodness, congratulations.

- Thanks.

It's a good thing you came to watch the boys, huh?

- [Mother] (laughs) Good thing they're still sleeping.

- Oh yeah, (laughs) that would've been terrible too.

- [Mother] Oh my goodness, congratulations, I'm so proud of you, I'm crying.

- Thanks.

Yeah, me too.

(both laugh) - [Mother] Oh, way to go, all of your hard work.

- Thanks.

(laughs) So crazy.

(both laugh) - [Mother] All right, love you.

- Love you, bye.

- [Mother] Bye.

- Ooh, it's the moms, they always get you.

(laughs) - Ah.

What were you feeling in that moment, calling your mom?

- You know, it's such an incredible thing-- - By the way, what were you feeling just watching that again?

- As becoming a mom, like you just, I hope that one day my boys can call me with such incredible news on something that they, you know, have worked so hard for and dedicated themselves to.

I can totally understand the way that my mom was feeling in that moment, and, you know, when I was calling, you get emotional when you're talking to your mom about something that you worked really hard on because you, you know, you go to your mom when you have a rough day or you need some guidance, and so it felt like I was sharing news with somebody who had followed me along the whole path.

- How did COVID affect you as an educator?

- You know, COVID was difficult for education and the families involved as a whole.

You know, collaboration became the name of the game if you weren't doing it already.

I had worked in the lead teacher position to prepare the materials that we needed for those first two weeks home, and we sent home paper packets for the grade level and quickly realized that that wasn't going to cut it, and so when you were considering the physical and mental wellness of the families and the teachers that you work with, along with the economic factors that happened, the goal really was to create meaningful opportunities to connect with kids, trying out new programs, sharing new resources so that the teachers felt like there was a weight lifted off of their back with all they were dealing with personally, and the students felt like they still had a connection to the outside world.

- Hmm.

You know, I'm obsessed by the word and the concept of engagement.

People who work with me, I do a lot of leadership coaching in my other life and I talk about the need to engage people in meetings, engage people in all aspects of our lives, you need to pull them in, involve them.

There's a great quote from Ben Franklin that says, "Tell me and I will forget.

"Teach me and I may remember.

"Engage and involve me and I will understand."

- Yeah.

- What does that mean to you?

- When you think about the students that are in front of you, kids learn best from people who they feel like care about them genuinely, and so when I think about engagement, my mind immediately goes to making genuine connections, getting to know the students, and then tailoring your instruction to make sure that they feel included in the process.

You don't want somebody talking at you all day, you want somebody talking with you, so incorporating interests and making learning fun by adding silly games and activities just makes the engagement, especially in an elementary classroom with fourth graders that are really just seeking connection at this really pivotal age, super meaningful and it makes a difference when they know that you're there for them, not just to teach them.

- So, Taylor, lemme try this.

You have twins right now, right?

- Yes.

(laughs) - And you're teaching?

- Yeah.

- How?

- The eye roll, yep.

(laughs) You know, we're just making it work.

- That's what my wife says all the time.

We have three kids and she's a professional in her field and I don't know how she does it, but-- - Oh, that's awesome.

- Yeah, it's awesome that she does it 'cause, nevermind.

(Taylor laughs) I just do this, which is not that hard.

So here's what I'm curious about.

How do you protect against burnout?

- I think that the ultimate protection for teacher burnout for me, and what I've noticed amongst my colleagues, is protection and respect of time.

You know, the time that teachers have is minimal, so making sure that the resources and the planning and the day-to-day tasks can be minimized by your district and your administration really does make a huge difference in your daily to-dos, and also just making sure that teacher time is respected.

When teachers are pulled for PDs and meetings, making sure that the content is relevant, it's applicable to their instruction, and it's new information that can help them grow as an educator.

I think just coming up with systems to protect your time is what's worked best for me.

- Before I let you go, tell me about this Rowan University, Rowan's one of our higher ed partners.

You were an undergraduate there?

- Yes.

- Okay, and this is a mentoring program for upcoming teachers, what is it and how are you involved?

Got a minute left, go ahead.

- So my, a previous professor reached out to me.

They needed teachers to team up with students that were in the program to give them a look behind the classroom, and so we give these future teachers some examples of classroom management, how to build relationships, how to connect with families in your school environment and your students, because when you introduce some of those foundational skills when they enter the classroom their first year, they have something to lean back on to get themselves started, so that's the goal of the class that I help support.

- I lied, I got a little more time with you.

I heard the bell's gonna go off soon over there.

- Yep, around 3:15 we start calling kids outta here.

- Okay, I better be quick.

We're taping at 3:17 right now.

(Taylor laughs) 1 to 10.

The level of satisfaction I get, 1 to 10, from teaching is?

- I would say a nine.

You know, satisfaction, if I was to say a 10, right, like there would be ponies and unicorns and I'd have unlimited resources and just like, everything's (indistinct speaking) - Are you saying that's not the case?

- You know, you're handed a situation as a public school teacher and it's your job to make the year memorable.

Fourth graders, fifth graders, they're only a fourth grader one time, you are their experience, and so I say a nine because I love being that for my students, making sure that their experience when they look back as an adult, like, "Wow, when I was a fourth grader, "I had a good time."

You know, if I had endless resources and time, it might be a 10, but I'm a realist.

(laughs) - Hey Taylor, congratulations.

- Thank you so much.

- I wish you all the best and you and all your colleagues.

You do important work - Oh, thank you.

- every day with our kids.

(applauds) Well done.

The bell's gonna ring soon.

- Thank you so much.

Yep, gotta head outta here.

Thank you.

- Thank you.

You got it.

Stay with us, we're right back.

- [Narrator] One-On-One with Steve Adubato is a production of the Caucus Educational Corporation.

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- (Narrator) New Jersey is home to the best public schools in the nation, and that didn't happen by accident.

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