Milwaukee City Wire

Five Milwaukee Public Schools students and 10 teachers from the district have been selected as recipients of the 2024 Herb Kohl Educational Foundation awards. The foundation announced a total of 304 award winners from all over Wisconsin on March 19, 2024.

According to JoAnne Anton, president and CEO of Herb Kohl Philanthropies, "Herb Kohl believed that education is the key to the future of Wisconsin and our nation. That’s why he invested in and prioritized awards that recognize students, teachers, and principals who demonstrate incredible hard work, achievements, and service. We hope this year’s awards help this impressive group of recipients in their individual pursuits today so that they pay it forward in the future. We call that the Herb Kohl Way."

The Herb Kohl Foundation award program was established by Herb Kohl, a former U.S. senator, philanthropist, and businessman who passed away on December 27, 2023. Since 1990, the foundation has provided almost $38 million to educators, principals, students, and schools in Wisconsin.

Among the MPS students who received awards are Rachel Pollock from Milwaukee School of Languages, Alexa Romero from Reagan College Preparatory High School, Aylicia Byrd from Wisconsin Conservatory of Lifelong Learning, Areonna Mitchell from Groppi High School, and Nirjala Patel from Bay View High School.

The 2024 Herb Kohl Educational Foundation Teacher Fellows include Ana Celia Baez, Brandt Champion, Darrell Hubbard, Jennifer Janes, Maegan Rivera, Jonathan Rutter, Kimberly Shields, Nicholas Sprague, Marjorie Struck, and Carlotta Tyler from various schools within the Milwaukee Public Schools district.

Congratulations were extended to all the Kohl Foundation award winners from MPS. The selection process for the awards involves a statewide committee comprising civic leaders and representatives of education-related associations and co-sponsors of the program, such as the Wisconsin Newspaper Association Foundation, the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, Cooperative Educational Service Agencies (CESA), the Association of Wisconsin School Administrators, and the Wisconsin Homeschooling Parents Association.