Miller Foundation Announces Awards for Teachers
The James F. and Marion L. Miller Foundation has initiated a program designed to encourage public high school teachers to stay in the profession and improve their teaching skills. The Foundation will fund up to 50 awards, ranging from $1,000 to $5,000. Public high school principals have been invited to nominate a teacher who has been in the profession less than 5 years and is likely to benefit from a self-designed professional development project.
If a principal plans to submit a nomination, she or he should inform the Miller Foundation by October 3. By November 3, both the principal and teacher must submit letters to the foundation. The principal’s letter will address who the candidate is and why this teacher is being nominated. The teacher’s letter will describe the learning experience she or he wants to pursue and why, along with a proposed budget.
A Selection Committee composed of an experienced public high school teacher, a public high school principal, and a college or university educator will review the submissions and recommend to the Foundation up to 50 awardees whom the committee believes best fit the purposes of the program. The Miller Foundation will formally approve the awards in mid-December.
The Miller Foundation, created in 2002 by a bequest from James F. (Jimmy) Miller, has assets of approximately $200 million and is focused on arts and education in Oregon. Thus far it has granted over $62 million to organizations throughout the state. Mr. Miller began his career in Portland with the investment firm, Blyth & Co. (which later became Paine Webber and then UBS Financial Services). Miller rose to become president of Blyth & Co. in New York in the early 1960s. He returned to Portland in 1998 where he made generous gifts to numerous arts and educational organizations before his death in 2004.