Micah Depper receiving his $25,000 check as part of the Milken Educator Award in the Bath Middle School gym on Wednesday, Feb. 5. Paul Bagnall / The Times Record

One Bath Middle School educator got a shock Wednesday morning when he was honored with a prestigious national award that has been likened to the “Oscars of teaching.”

Seventh-grade science teacher Micah Depper received the $25,000 Milken Educator Award during a surprise assembly to raucous student applause.

“You’ve probably never heard of the Milken Family Foundation, but the foundation has heard a lot about you,” said Milken Family Foundation Senior Program Director Greg Gallagher, addressing the educators and students crowd.

Gallagher said the Milken Family Foundation believes teachers have the most important job because they are trusted to provide all kids with a bright future. The quality of the teachers in the classroom is the most essential educational element determining how much kids learn in school each year, he said.

“The Milken Award says in a very public way that greatness in education should be celebrated, too,” Gallagher said.

Depper led a Regional School Unit 1 committee that helped the area respond to the climate crisis by improving students’ climate literacy. He also helped implement a pilot under Maine’s Rethinking Responsive Education Ventures (RREV) grant program through the Maine Department of Education to create ways to improve students’ sense of connection with the school.

Depper earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon, in 2010 and a master’s degree in environmental studies from Antioch University in California in 2013.

Shortly after graduating, Depper started teaching at Harpswell Coastal Academy where he was among the founding faculty members of a place-based charter school catering to students who didn’t feel they fit into a traditional educational environment.

Up to 45 recipients across the nation receive Milken Educator Award honors each year. Hailed as the “Oscars of teaching,” the Milken Educator Award has been the nation’s preeminent teacher-recognition program for 35 years. Over $75 million in individual financial prizes have been granted to teachers in the life of the award.

Each Milken Award recipient also receives an all-expenses-paid trip to California to work with other educators to improve education across America.