Ryan Towner was prepared for a big day on March 16, 2022. Towner has been serving as principal at Walt Disney Elementary School in Mishawaka since 2017, and he has helped steward the school with such a high degree of success that Walt Disney was saluted by U.S. News and World Report as one of the top 30% of all Indiana public schools.
To celebrate, Towner and his staff prepared a special assembly on March 16, ostensibly to commemorate the U.S. News award. Katie Jenner, Indiana’s Secretary of Education, made the trip up from Indianapolis to give the opening remarks. At first, everything was going precisely as Towner had planned, but then Jenner introduced a guest from California, someone he was not expecting: Jane Foley, senior vice president of the Milken Educator Awards.
As Foley spoke, it gradually became clear that she was announcing the fact that a winner of a prestigious Milken Educator Award was in the room. The prize is both prestigious and lucrative, carrying with it a $25,000 check. Before long, Towner realized that he was to be the recipient.
The students celebrated his achievement, as did visiting dignitaries including other leaders in Indiana education as well as Indiana State Representative Dale DeVon and Senator David Niezgodski.
IU South Bend has been, and continues to be, a major part of Towner’s life. He graduated in 2010 with a bachelor’s degree in elementary education and added a master’s in education administration in 2016. He currently serves on the university’s advisory committee for elementary education and visits classrooms, sharing his real-life perspective.
“Speaking with the teacher candidates – the undergrads currently in the School of Ed. – is really one of the most enjoyable things I do. I love it,” Towner said. “I’ve done seminars related to parent conferencing and creating positive classroom culture environments. I have done a lot of speaking with regards to literacy and instructional cycles.”
Indeed, he could lead a masterclass on the topic of best practices in elementary education, using his own experiences at Walt Disney as examples. Since his arrival, his school has made steady gains in student achievement, exceeding similar schools in core performance domains. Towner has led efforts in his school to refine tiered approaches to instruction, and he has participated in leadership teams to guide corporation initiatives in early literacy. Walt Disney has also introduced tiered academic interventions with ongoing progress monitoring and a revitalized embrace of phonics instruction for the younger students.
Beyond that, Towner has made sure to cultivate a rich cultural environment.
“Walt Disney has a vibrant student community,” Towner said. “When people think of diversity, they usually think in terms of indicators like race and ethnicity, and at Disney, we are certainly diverse in that regard.”
The school’s commitment to its English as a New Language (ENL) program is a testimony to this, as is its annual Culture Night celebration.
“At any time, we have about 90 to 100 students who are bilingual, and many of them learn English here with us. People often associate ENL with Spanish-speaking students, but we also have students from all over the world. We typically have around 30 different native languages represented among our student population.”
Just as the ENL program helps the children make strides with their English, Culture Night allows them to demonstrate their original culture’s food, music, dance, fashion, artwork, and theatre.
“It all contributes to a sense of shared cultural wealth,” Towner said.
During a typical school day, he is not the type to spend much time at his desk. He’s all over the place. He knows all the students’ names, and there are well over 500 kids enrolled. He doesn’t require some kind of mnemonic device to achieve this feat. He simply knows everyone that well.
“Well, every year, it takes me a little while to catch up on kindergarten,” he said with a chuckle. “I’m in my sixth year as principal, and these students and this staff are very important to me. I try to be in each of the classrooms every day. It’s important in this job that you know your people well. You get to know the kids better every year, and you get to know so many of the parents. I don’t want to be the principal who rules with an iron fist, the disciplinarian – ‘Oh, don’t get sent to him.’”
Another way he makes himself approachable is by amusing everyone via occasional impromptu performances on piano and ukulele in the cafeteria and during arrival and dismissal.
“It can be anything from ‘Itsy Bitsy Spider’ to pop hits. I’m a big Beatles fan. I like Journey. Some days it’s Disney songs, and of course that fits with the school’s name. I really like classical music too,” Towner said. “Sometimes I’ll just play whatever song they shout out.”
