Ray Parris of Hialeah Miami Lakes Technical Magnet School in Miami, FL was awarded top prize in the NFTE (Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship) inaugural Model Teacher Challenge, a highly competitive challenge issued to educators across the U.S. who teach NFTE’s entrepreneurship courses to middle school and high school students. Parris received a $20,000 cash prize and his school received another $5,000 to fund resources that support entrepreneurship education.

For more than 30 years, NFTE’s award-winning, project-based curriculum has been activating the entrepreneurial mindset in youth from underserved communities. Last year alone, the organization reached more than 35,000 students in over 1,000 schools across the country. The Model Teacher Challenge is a national competition that challenges educators to perform at the highest levels in order to promote consistent student achievement and entrepreneurial mindset growth, demonstrating effective classroom management strategies, sound pedagogical content knowledge, data-driven decision-making, and a belief that growing a student’s entrepreneurial mindset can change their life trajectory.

The 2019 award winner will be announced in Chicago this mid-July at the NFTE Annual Teacher Summit