Vandegrift’s style is compelling. So much so that last month, he was among 25 educators across the country, and the only one from Massachusetts, to receive one of the so-called “Oscars of Teaching’’ from the Milken Family Foundation so far this year.
The Milken Educator Award, which is accompanied by a $25,000 check with no restrictions on its use, is shrouded in secrecy. The foundation does not accept applications, and does not identify the people who recommend recipients in each state. The criteria for winning include an “engaging and inspiring presence’’ and an “exceptional educational talent.’’
That means the foundation looks for elementary and secondary school teachers, principals and other educators who know how to make content “jump off the page,’’ said Jana Rausch, spokeswoman for the Milken Family Foundation, which is based in Santa Monica, Calif.
Vandegrift, 33, was chosen, in part, because he shows students that history is a continuum, she said.
“He makes them think,’’ said Rausch. “He relates the lessons to real life.’’
Vandegrift, who has been teaching in Waltham for 11 years, said he hasn’t fully decided what he’ll spend the award money on, but some of it will likely go toward paying off student loans from his alma mater, Boston College.
Waltham High junior Michael Gelineau, 17, is in Vandegrift’s modern US history honors class, which is studying Gehrig and other personalities of the 1920s.
“Clearly he’s the man of the school right now; he’s pretty humble about it though,’’ Gelineau said of his teacher. “He makes the class fun. You still learn, but you have a good time.’’
Class may start with a brief YouTube video made by one of Vandegrift’s former students summarizing 1920s pop culture, or “The Age of Ballyhoo,’’ the subject of the day’s lecture.
It’s the age of Steamboat Willie and jazz and, inscrutably, goldfish swallowing. Vandegrift takes his students through a lecture and slideshow that touches on some key historical events, like the Scopes Trial, where a teacher got in trouble for teaching evolution.
