National Educator Honor Goes to Class of 2000’s Derek Vandegrift

Boston College alumnus Derek Vandegrift, a teacher at Waltham High School, was presented with the 2011 Milken Family Foundation National Educator Award, making him one of only 15 recipients in the country and the only teacher in Massachusetts to receive the prestigious teaching honor.

Vandegrift, who teaches history to high school sophomores and juniors, graduated from BC in 2000 with a bachelor of arts degree in history. He went on to earn a master’s of education degree from BC the next year.

Launched by education reform leader Lowell Milken, the Milken Educator Awards are the nation’s preeminent teacher recognition program, having honored more than 2,500 K-12 teachers, principals and specialists across the country over the past 25 years. The program supports classroom teachers of quality, which award organizers say is the most important school-based factor in determining student achievement. The Milken Educator Award comes with a $25,000 cash prize.

Interviewed by WBZ Radio, Vandegrift said he hopes “that I inspire them [my students] and that they go on to do what they want to do and be the best at what they want to do. And if I’ve done that then I feel pretty good.”

The award was presented to Vandegrift in a surprise school assembly on Oct. 18 by Milken Educator Awards Senior Vice President Jane Foley and the commissioner of Massachusetts Elementary and Secondary Education, Mitchell Chester.