The Milken Family Foundation surprised Harry Shontz, a social studies teacher and history department chair at the Leffell School in Hartsdale, N.Y., with a $25,000 Milken Educator Award at a school assembly on Friday.
The founder of the awards, Lowell Milken, presented the prize in front of students, faculty and dignitaries, including Danny Danon, the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations in New York.
“Harry Shontz is a remarkable educator by enveloping students in the rich tapestry of history to bridge the past, present and future,” Milken said. “In so doing, Harry sparks critical thinking, intellectual curiosity and the passion to become productive citizens of our global society.”
The foundation described Shontz’s immersive classroom instruction as placing students in historical roles, guiding them through simulations, debates and speeches across historical eras and in American politics.
Shontz is the first recipient from Westchester County to win the award. The foundation has awarded more than $76 million in individual prizes to 3,000 educators since 1987, it said.
