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By Emily Wax |
The assistant principal had just been given the award that Teacher Magazine has dubbed the "Oscars of Teaching" -- the Milken Family Foundation National Educator Award.
And he was in total shock.
"I was just completely taken aback," said Brown, who learned of the award during a surprise assembly last week. "It's just this huge honor."
Brown, 38, is one of four Virginia educators to receive the award this year. The other winners include Cynthia Baird, 31, a math teacher at Brentsville District High School in Prince William, and educators from Suffolk and Prince George's counties.
The award comes with a $25,000 grant, which winners can use any way they wish.
The Milken awards are an elite honor, and the nomination process is highly secretive. Teachers do not apply for the award; the winners' names are shrouded in secrecy until special surprise assemblys each fall. Educators are selected by the foundation based on such criteria as "exceptional educational talent" and "engaging and inspiring presence."
Brown, an outgoing person, blends in with students in the halls of Washington-Lee, looking more like a J. Crew model than an administrator. He has been a favorite in the Arlington County school system, colleagues said.
He is modest in accepting their accolades.
"Inside, I am really just a kid," he said. "I think to really work with students you have to be thinking what their world is like."
Brown was born in Jamaica and moved here from St. Andrew, a suburb of Kingston, when he was in the seventh grade.
His Jamaican school had uniforms, and the teachers practiced corporal punishment. When his parents -- his mother is a teacher and his father an economist -- moved the family to Alexandria, he found himself struggling to find his place.
"I didn't know how to play football or basketball," said Brown, who had been more familiar with cricket and soccer. "I remember being in gym class, thinking, 'Oh, no, I need to learn football.' There were not that many people moving here like me back then, and it really was a great challenge."
Brown said his having been an immigrant student helps him understand how many of the African American, Latino and Middle Eastern students feel at Washington-Lee.
At Washington-Lee, where minority students make up 66 percent of the student body, Brown has worked hard to decrease the achievement gap between white and minority students. He encourages students to join clubs and get involved in sports. He sometimes approaches a new student from Ethiopia or El Salvador and encourages the student to try out for tennis or football. He draws on his past to encourage them.
"I really understand kids because they are searching to find themselves," he said. "I can really appreciate what they are going through. On the surface, it might seem that everything was fine. But I know they are struggling to fit in."
Brown earned a bachelor's degree from Virginia Tech and a master's degree from George Mason University. He is a doctoral candidate at the University of Virginia.
After he graduated college with -- "believe it or not," he said -- a degree in agricultural economics, Brown's mother "begged [him] to go talk to the dean about getting an education license."
"My interest was always in English," he said. "I always took English courses, and my mother knew I wanted to teach."
Brown has worked in Arlington schools since 1992, most recently teaching English at Thomas Jefferson Middle School before being promoted to assistant principal at Washington-Lee.
"I think the thing about Colin is he has high expectations for all of his students, and he really enjoys his job," said Mimi Carter, an assistant principal who worked with him at Thomas Jefferson. "I think everyone is really happy for him."
Brown is married to Julie Dickson, a teacher at H-B Woodlawn Secondary School; they have a 3-year-old son, Kaelan. Brown said he is not sure what he will use the money for, but he is thrilled at having received the award. In accepting it, he thanked all of his mentors in the school system, a place where he loves to work.
"I accept this award on behalf of every hardworking teacher and administrator in the county of Arlington," he said. "It really is an honor for all of us."
(Washington Post)