First Posted: 4/13/2009

RALEIGH Reba McMillan, a kindergarten teacher at Peterson Elementary School and longtime RAE/NCAE member, was recently named the 2009 NCAE Teaching Excellence Award winner. She received an engraved plaque, a cash prize of $250 sponsored by the state Foundation for Public School Children, and was honored at the NCAE awards banquet.
McMillan will now compete on the national level, where five finalists will receive the the Horace Mann Awards for Teaching Excellence and a personal gift of $10,000 from the Horace Mann Companies. In addition, one national winner will receive the NEA Member Benefits Award for Teaching Excellence and an additional $25,000. All nominees will received an all-expense paid trip to the 2010 Awards Gala in Washington, D.C. Robeson Countys Brian Freeman was the first teacher from North Carolina to receive the national award.
I am overjoyed to have been selected to represent the teachers of North Carolina, McMillan said. Teaching is a passion of mine and I love my time in the classroom. There is no greater reward than teaching a child.
McMillan was first-runner in the Public Schools of Robeson County Teacher of the Year competition. She has been a past president for Delta Kappa Gamma. She began a food pantry at her church, which donates several hundred items a month. She has served on the IEA Parent Advisory Committee for many years and is a former RAE secretary as well. McMillan has volunteered with Habitat for Humanity, Boy and Girl scouts, and has traveled on a mission trip to teach English in the Ukraine.
McMillan has four children. All three of her sons are Eagle Scouts. She is married to Harry McMillan of Maxton. McMillan holds her BA and MA from the University of North Carolina at Pembroke.