Award-Winning Ag Educator
Christian Stanley, agriscience teacher and FFA advisor in Goshen, Alabama, didn’t apply for any awards. So when Goshen High School announced that there would be an assembly with the state superintendent of education, he had no idea what would be announced. He soon learned he had won a $25,000 Milken Educator Award, which was only given to 30 teachers across the country for the 2025-26 school year. He was the only winner in Alabama, and one of two agriscience teachers to win this year.
The award, sometimes referred to as the “Oscars of Teaching,” recognizes the accomplishments and potential of outstanding K-12 teachers, principals and specialists. You can’t apply for the award; recipients are chosen through a confidential selection process and approved by the Milken Family Foundation.
“I’m grateful to have won this award and for the opportunity it’s given me to put the spotlight on my students and my community,” Stanley says. He teaches a variety of agriscience classes for seventh through 12th grade students, including animal and dairy science, horticulture, landscape design and floral design. Goshen High School operates the Pike County Agriscience Academy in partnership with Enterprise State Community College, which allows students to graduate high school with a short-term certificate or associate’s degree in agriscience.
Hands-0n Learning
In his classes and FFA-related activities, Stanley emphasizes hands-on learning. Students grow romaine lettuce for multiple area schools using a container farm with a climate-controlled hydroponic system. Agriscience students also raise goats and a cattle herd. (They take the steers to a USDA-inspected facility and sell beef to the community to raise funds for the program.)
Goshen High School students are reaping the benefits of the Academy’s hands-on learning opportunities. “What I enjoy most about Mr. Stanley’s classes is working with the animals and learning to handle them,” says Ella Claire Mills, 2025-26 Goshen FFA historian. “I want to major in animal science with a concentration in nutrition, and being in the ag academy has given me so many opportunities that will help me in my future.”
For Stanley, teaching is about more than just horticulture or animal science skills. He also teaches soft skills that will help students find professional success. “We want them to be able to handle themselves in an interview room, to be able to walk in and shake hands and speak articulately,” Stanley says.
His daily encouragement gives students the confidence they need to succeed. “Mr. Stanley encouraged me to become an FFA officer my freshman year, which is something I would have never done without his encouragement,” says Addison Richburg, 2025-26 Goshen FFA student advisor. “Mr. Stanley has always pushed me to be a better version of myself.”
Photography: Courtesy of the Milken Family Foundation.
