Tuesday, Apr 12, 2022
Sarah Mae Lagasca '13 wins Milken Educator Award
by Rachel Stengel '14, '20
"Cuckoo bananas" is the best way Sarah Mae Lagasca '13 could describe April 1, 2022. That day, she was surprised with a $25,000 Milken Educator Award.
Dubbed "the Oscars of teaching," Milken Educator Awards celebrate standout early- to mid-career teachers who are furthering excellence in education.
Lagasca, a music teacher at Arts High School in Newark, New Jersey, was attending what she thought was a regular school assembly when Milken Educator Awards Senior Vice President Dr. Jane Foley and New Jersey Acting Commissioner of Education Dr. Angelica Allen-McMillan announced she was selected for the award.
Overwhelmed with emotion, she fell to the floor as she heard her name. The entire school broke out into cheer. She was one of more than 60 teachers nationwide to receive the honor and just one of two in the state.
"I am very much still in disbelief," she says. "I admittedly did not know about this award. It was a crazy, out-of-the-blue thing."
Presented by the Milken Family Foundation, recipients not only receive a $25,000 unrestricted cash prize, they also join an exclusive group of more than 2,800 top teachers, principals and specialists. Lagasca will also attend an all-expenses-paid Milken Educator Awards Forum. There, she will network with fellow Milken educators and other education leaders about how to increase their impact on K-12 education.
Lagasca is a ninth-year teacher. Since 2018, she has been the contemporary vocal music and recorded music teacher at Arts High School. She has reimagined the school's vocal arts program, incorporating contemporary music and professional recording technology. Her students have performed at Lincoln Center and the Newark Museum of Art. The school even invested in new recording equipment to create a fully functioning, mobile recording studio because of Lagasca's curriculum development.
"I used to bring my recording equipment everyday from Astoria, Queens to Newark on the train," she says.
Each of her students graduate with a number of professional samples already in their portfolios.
"Since I’ve gotten there, every student, every year makes a high-quality, professional recording," she says. "By the time they graduate, each student has about four to five, high-quality recordings in their portfolio on their website."
Lagasca says she loves seeing the passion and authenticity her students bring to the classroom and performances. Their growth throughout the course of the program continues to inspire her.
"That’s what music education does. You show a student what they already could do and how they can bring it to the next level for their community," she says.
In addition to teaching, Lagasca remains an active musical professional. She conducted Newark’s All-City Choral Ensemble and organizes workshops with professional musicians through the VH1: Save the Music Foundation and the GRAMMY Museum. She has performed with the Berlin Philharmonic and the Philadelphia Orchestra. She also performed on Arturo O’Farrill’s Four Questions, which won the 2021 GRAMMY award for Best Latin Jazz Album. She credits the education she received at Westminster for her success. Lagasca earned her bachelor's in music education.
"Westminster Choir College and Rider really changed my life," she says. "I wouldn’t be where I am today if I had not gone there. Every day, I stand on the shoulders of the teachers who taught me and their absolute love and passion for singing, choral music and education."
