A visibly shocked Emily Litz was swept into a group hug Thursday as her fellow teachers harassed her and the Scotch Plains school gymnasium erupted in thunderous cheers.

His students shouted his name from the stands.

“Mrs. Litz! Mrs. Litz! Mrs. Litz!” they roared.

It was like Litz had just scored the winning touchdown in the Super Bowl. Instead, she was celebrated for being an exceptional educator.

Litz, a fifth-grade teacher in the Scotch Plains-Fanwood School District, was named a 2024-2025 award recipient. Milken Educator Award during a morning assembly at Malcolm E. Nettingham Middle School. The prize comes with a check for $25,000 that the teacher can use as she wishes.

Litz told the crowd that she decided to become a teacher “very early” in life.

“In third grade, I had an amazing teacher who made me love coming to school, and I knew I wanted to do that as a teacher, too,” she said. “I wanted students to come to school and be excited not only to learn, but to feel like they were part of a family.”

Dozens of teachers and hundreds of students entered the gymnasium that morning, expecting Kevin Dehmer, New Jersey’s acting education commissioner, to speak to them about artificial intelligence. Dehmer did this for about five minutes, waxing lyrical about the potential of AI as a teaching aid.

He stopped to ask how many students had used AI to do their homework. A few hands were raised timidly.

Dehmer then passed the microphone to Jane Foley, senior vice president of the Milken Educator Awards. It revealed the true purpose of the assembly.

“There are many excellent teachers and principals in this country. And one of the best teachers in the entire country is here – at your school,” Foley said, causing a buzz in the room.

The Milken Family Foundation, based in California, began recognizing excellence in K-12 teachers across the country in 1987. The organization will honor its 3,000th teacher this year.

Including Litz, there have been 38 Milken Prize winners in New Jersey since the program began in the state in 2002.

The award comes with a $25,000 prize, to be spent as the recipient sees fit – with no strings attached. Winners are also offered mentoring and networking opportunities through the Milken Family Foundation.

The award cannot be applied for and applicants do not know they are being considered until they win.

“You don’t find us, we find you,” Foley said. “We look, we search, we travel all over the country to find the best of the best.”

The selection process is shrouded in mystery. Applicants are identified based on criteria including “educational talent,” leadership, presence, community involvement and professional potential, according to the foundation’s website.

Foley told NJ Advance Media that the foundation identifies candidates with the help of state education officials, who quietly gather information about their talent pool and pass it on. The Milken Family Foundation reviews the recommendations and determines which educators represent “the top 1 percent of the teaching profession,” Foley said.

“It was life-changing,” Foley, herself a Milken educator in 1994, said of the award. “Educators are already doing incredible work. After receiving the award, you feel a great responsibility to continue contributing.

Among the approximately 45 educators across the country who will be honored with the so-called “Teaching Oscars” this school year, Litz is the only one from New Jersey.

She is the first teacher from the Scotch Plains-Fanwood Regional School District to earn this honor.

Foley said Litz was removed from the applicant pool because she “exemplified” the foundation’s criteria. An unsung hero and leader in the school community, Litz’s former students often come up to tell her what influence she had on them, Foley said.

As the audience screamed, Litz walked to the front of the gym during the ceremony, one hand on her chest to steady herself. In the stands, a student from one of the back rows turned to his friends.

“He’s our teacher!” he said. “It’s so cool.”

Litz is known for instilling a sense of wonder and spontaneity in her classes, according to a news release from the Milken Family Foundation. She sprinkles her students with glitter “for good luck” before exams and often transforms her classroom into a “wilderness,” complete with a roaring fake campfire, before they share their writing.

“The teaching profession is fortunate to have Emily in our ranks and we are proud to welcome her to the Milken Educator Network,” Foley said in a statement.

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AJ McDougall can be contacted at [email protected]. Follow her on X at @oldmcdougall.