Story by Jason Gonzalez
Photos courtesy of the Milken Family Foundation
Flashing cameras, big crowds and a red carpet rivaling Hollywood’s best faded into the background when two-time Grand Canyon University graduate Angelica Garcia thought about her Westwood Elementary community.
Garcia, the Phoenix school’s academic coach, traveled to Washington, D.C., in June on an all-expenses-paid trip to be honored as Arizona’s sole recipient of the 2025 Milken Educator Award. Often referred to as the “Oscars of Teaching,” the award recognizes K-12 teachers, principals and specialists around the country who are furthering excellence in education and includes an unrestricted $25,000 prize.
As Garcia stepped onto centerstage at the Spotlight of Excellence Gala to receive her award, she calmed a rush of nerves by turning her thoughts back to students.
“One of the things that kept replaying in my head was my journey through teaching and the students that I’ve gotten to know, and how they inspired me to keep going,” Garcia said. “I was thinking about my first class, when I was trying to survive, and all the students who taught me and grew with me. I wish they could have been there with me. I want them to know how much of an impact they had.”
At the top of Garcia’s mind was a former student who now has siblings at Westwood, which is in the Alhambra Elementary District. The middle schooler returned to campus to tell her he had seen her on TV and that he would never forget how much she cared about him and his classmates.
“‘I had tears in my eyes when I saw you on the news,’ he told me,” said Garcia. “‘I remember how you were such a fun teacher, and I know I gave you a hard time, but I was always listening and learning.’”
Westwood, just a mile east of campus, and GCU have a shared history. It's where GCU's education students have performed practicums or student teaching, where alumni have become part of the Westwood teaching staff, and where GCU helped plant a campus garden as part of its revitalization efforts in the community.
The Milken Family Foundation announced its 2025 class of 27 winners during its awards tour, surprising honorees during all-school assemblies. Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne and Milken officials surprised Garcia at Westwood Elementary in January.
Each recipient received lifetime membership in the national Milken Educator Network, which provides ongoing mentorship and professional development. Since the program’s inception, more than $76 million has been awarded in individual financial prizes and more than $146 million invested in the Milken Educator Award national network overall.
“Each 2025 Milken Educator embodies the steadfast leader, mentor and guide every student deserves,” said Lowell Milken, the philanthropist and education leader who created the Milken Family Foundation in 1987. “From the inaugural class of 12 outstanding California educators, the Milken Educator Network is now over 3,000 strong, representing diverse communities across the country. We celebrate the induction of 27 professionals who are building a brighter future for thousands of young Americans and our nation itself.”
Garcia’s path to the red carpet ran through GCU’s College of Education. She earned her bachelor’s degree in elementary education in 2017 and a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction in 2020.
She is the eighth GCU alum in five years to earn the Milken Educator Award, a streak she isn’t surprised to see.
“GCU taught me something so special – how to integrate your heart and a strong work ethic into what you do,” Garcia said. “My time there is truly what inspired me to want to be a professor one day, because you had people so invested in their students and getting them ready to enter the workforce. Because that’s modeled for us, we’re able to instill that in ourselves.
“There’s truly something special at GCU when you have professors who care and pour their heart into what they do. They want to see their students succeed. They know they’re setting them up to enter the world and impact others.”
Garcia plans to use the $25,000 to further develop herself as an educator. At the top of the list is earning a doctorate – possibly returning to GCU – as she works to become the kind of professor she once had.
GCU News senior writer Jason Gonzalez can be reached at [email protected].
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