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Start Spreading the News … Lowell Milken Surprises Hartsdale Social Studies Teacher with $25,000 Milken Educator Award, Completing National Tour Honoring America’s Heroes
The Leffell School’s Harry Shontz among 27 recipients of the “Oscars of Teaching” and joins national network that shapes future of K-12 education
April 17, 2026
SANTA MONICA, Calif. — Today’s State of the School gathering at The Leffell School in Westchester County featured a surprise festivity: the presentation of a prestigious, national honor to one exceptional teacher. Milken Educator Awards Founder Lowell Milken, visiting all the way from Los Angeles, announced ninth through 12th grade social studies teacher and history department chair Harry Shontz as New York’s 2025-26 Milken Educator Award recipient. The recognition comes with a financial prize of $25,000. Today’s presentation concludes this season’s Milken Educator Awards Tour, which celebrated 27 outstanding educators across the U.S. for their impact on changing lives in their communities.
The first recipient from Westchester County, Shontz accepted the Award surrounded by a roaring crowd of students, colleagues, media, and dignitaries, such as Danny Danon, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations. Danon’s appearance was a fitting tribute to the audience of future leaders and the educators who shape them.
“Harry Shontz is a remarkable educator by enveloping students in the rich tapestry of history to bridge the past, present and future,” said Lowell Milken. “In so doing, Harry sparks critical thinking, intellectual curiosity, and the passion to become productive citizens of our global society.”
Today Shontz joins a national network of over 3,000 Milken Educators spanning the Awards’ nearly 40-year history as the nation’s preeminent teacher-recognition program. Hailed as the “Oscars of Teaching,” the Awards initiative has no formal application or nomination process. Outstanding K-12 educators are sought out while early to mid-career for what they have achieved—and for the promise of what they will accomplish given the resources and opportunities afforded by the Award.
This season reached more than $76 million in individual cash prizes since the Awards’ first presentation in 1987 and over $146 million invested in the Milken Educator Award national network overall, empowering recipients to broaden their impact and encouraging young, capable people to consider a career in education.
More About Harry Shontz
Embodying History: Harry Shontz, a high school social studies teacher at The Leffell School, puts the “heart” in Hartsdale, New York. A typical day in Shontz’s 12th grade “Gaming the Government” class resembles a living museum: his students participate in simulations of the historical eras they study and embody figures from the period. After weeks of research, students develop deep knowledge of their characters, allowing them to understand how each historical period informs society today. Shontz’s students converse, deliver speeches, and debate while in character—depicting time periods such as ancient Greece, medieval China, or the 1960s American political landscape. Shontz spreads his creative pedagogy to his other classes: comparative government, psychology, ninth grade world history, and 11th grade honors U.S. history.
Shaping a Department: As chair of Leffell’s history department, Shontz shapes curriculum and materials with fellow history teachers. These efforts include creating new interest-driven elective classes—American women’s history; law, crime and punishment in global history; modern Israeli history; social and political change and revolution; and immigration and multicultural America. Shontz sits on multiple committees and is a leading voice on schoolwide instructional initiatives and policy, where he helped revamp the master schedule while prioritizing Leffell’s rigorous academic and Judaic education priorities. He has been instrumental in designing the Agora Seminars, launching in fall 2026, which, in the spirit of a public square, will develop advanced analytical thinking in constitutional law; international relations; political philosophy and comparative government; Jewish law; ethics; and the literature of law, politics, and power.
An Extracurricular Leader: Shontz is equally involved in extracurriculars; he sponsors the senior internship program, leads holiday activities, and chaperones the senior trip to Poland. Shontz spends his summers coaching at a Connecticut swim club and serves as Leffell’s unofficial hotel pool lifeguard on overnight school trips.
Education: Shontz earned a Bachelor of Arts in history and psychology from the University of California, Davis, in 2012, and a Master of Professional Studies in secondary social studies education and special education from Manhattanville University in 2017.
The Milken Educator Award Reaps Lifelong Benefits
- The $25,000 cash Award is unrestricted. Recipients have used the money in diverse ways. Some recipients have spent the funds on their children’s or their own continuing education, financing dream field trips, establishing scholarships, and even adopting children.
- Honorees receive powerful mentorship opportunities for expanded leadership roles that strengthen education practice and policy. Milken Friends Forever (MFF) pairs a new recipient with a veteran Milken Educator mentor; the Expanding MFF Resource and Explorer Program fosters individual veteran Milken Educator partnerships around specific topic areas; and Activating Milken Educators (AME) promotes group collaboration in and across states to bring solutions to pressing educational needs. Milken MeetUps abound across the nation to deepen learning and connection and expand innovation in education.
- The honorees will attend an all-expenses-paid Milken Educator Awards Forum June 12-14 in Washington, D.C., where they will network with their new colleagues, as well as veteran Milken Educators and other education leaders, about how to further develop their voice into roles that lead to real change.
- Veteran Milken Educators demonstrate a wide range of leadership roles at state, national and international levels.
Follow the Milken Educator Awards tour and use the #MilkenAward hashtag on: YouTube (MilkenAward)| Facebook (MilkenEducatorAwards)| Instagram (MilkenFamilyFdn)| TikTok (MilkenAward)| X (Milken)| LinkedIn (MilkenFamilyFdn).
Visit MilkenEducatorAwards.org or call the Milken Family Foundation at (310) 570-4772 for more information.
About the Milken Educator Awards: “The Future Belongs to the Educated”
The first Milken Educator Awards were presented by the Milken Family Foundation in 1987. Created by philanthropist and education visionary Lowell Milken, the Awards provide public recognition and individual financial rewards of $25,000 to K-12 teachers, principals, and specialists from around the country who are furthering excellence in education. Recipients are heralded in early to mid-career for what they have achieved and for the promise of what they will accomplish. The Milken Family Foundation celebrates more than 40 years of elevating education in America and around the world. Learn more at MFF.org.