From left: FCPS Superintendent Dr. Cheryl L. Dyson, Greg Gallagher from the Milken Foundation, FHS teacher and Milken Award recipient Maggie Arnold, Interim State Superintendent Dr. Carey M. Wright, and Frederick High principal Dr. David Franceschina.
Frederick High’s Maggie Arnold, who immigrated to the United States as a youth and found her calling as a mathematics teacher, is a 2023 Milken Educator Award recipient.
Arnold was surprised with the news at a Frederick High assembly attended by Interim State Superintendent Dr. Carey M. Wright, FCPS Superintendent Dr. Cheryl L. Dyson, local elected officials, and FCPS leadership.
After students and staff took their seats in the gymnasium, Milken representative Greg Gallagher announced Arnold as the winner, which comes with a $25,000 unrestricted award.
Clearly surprised and touched, Arnold made her way to the front of the gymnasium while attendees cheered.
“Teaching is what I was meant to do,” Arnold said.
The Milken Educator Awards, created by philanthropist Lowell Milken in 1987, have rewarded and inspired excellence in the world of education by honoring top educators $25,000 in unrestricted awards. The program seeks early-to-mid career education professionals for their impressive achievements already and to support what they will accomplish in the future.
Arnold is the 2,992nd Milken Educator Award recipient and the first from FCPS since Yellow Springs Elementary teacher Maggie Hawk was tabbed – in the same surprise manner – in 2015. Hawk attended the FHS assembly.
“This is such a proud moment for FCPS,” Dr. Dyson said. “She is exactly the kind of teacher we need to support the needs of students.”
Arnold is in her fourth year serving as a mathematics teacher at Frederick High. She also advises the Asian Student Alliance – gatherings that tend to be well attended, in part, due to her passionate leadership. An advocate for all students, Arnold is known for being both demanding and encouraging in the classroom – repeatedly telling her students that anything is possible if you are willing to put in the work.
She is married to a mathematics teacher and has two children, who she cared for before becoming a full-time member of Frederick High’s faculty.
“Ms. Arnold has all of those qualities you see in amazing teachers,” Dr. Wright said following the assembly. “Maryland is blessed to have so many teachers just like her.”