Great Lakes Wire

A Muskegon County educator, Brian Milliron, has been recognized with an Excellence in Education award from the Michigan Lottery. Milliron, a social studies teacher and coach at Whitehall High School, was presented with the award by Lottery Commissioner Suzanna Shkreli.

The Michigan Lottery introduced the Excellence in Education awards in 2014 to honor exceptional public-school educators across Michigan during the school year. Weekly winners of this award receive a $2,000 cash prize. At the end of each school year, one weekly winner is chosen as Educator of the Year and receives a $10,000 cash prize.

Each recipient is also featured on news segments aired by the Lottery’s media partners: WXYZ-TV in Detroit, FOX 17 in Grand Rapids, FOX 47 in Lansing, WNEM-TV in Saginaw, and WWTV-TV in Traverse City. The segment featuring Milliron will be broadcast this evening.

Lottery Commissioner Suzanna Shkreli praised Milliron's dedication: “Preparing students for life beyond high school is critical to maintaining successful communities throughout Michigan and beyond,” she said. “Brian’s commitment to helping students prepare for whatever is next in their journey is inspiring.”

Milliron attributes his decision to become an educator to his positive experiences during high school. He stated that his interactions with teachers such as Ron Spitzer at Buckley Community Schools and Dr. Roger Durham at Aquinas College were influential. "My love for social studies content was due to high school teachers like Ron Spitzer at Buckley Community Schools and Dr. Roger Durham at Aquinas College," he noted.

His daughter nominated him for the award and highlighted his commitment over his 19-year teaching career: “Brian Milliron has been a social studies teacher and coach for the last 19 years and has always gone above and beyond for his students."

In addition to teaching seniors Government and AP US History classes at Whitehall High School, Milliron coaches the Varsity Girls Basketball team as well as JV/Varsity Quiz Bowl teams. He actively participates in several organizations outside of school including serving as a docent at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum.

Milliron holds degrees from Aquinas College, Grand Valley State University, and Ashland University.

Nominees for the Excellence in Education awards are assessed based on excellence, dedication, inspiration, leadership skills within their schools or districts, and effectiveness resulting in educational advancement.