By Maggie Edwards 

Christian Stanley’s life changed the day he and wife Madison welcomed their firstborn son into the world.

A few weeks later, his life changed again when he received the nationally renowned Milken Educator Award during an assembly in the Goshen High School (GHS) gymnasium. Students, coworkers and Alabama Superintendent of Education Dr. Eric Mackey exploded in thunderous applause Dec. 10 as the $25,000 cash prize was announced. 

“It was really surprising when my name was called,” said Stanley, a teacher at the Pike County Agriscience Academy housed at GHS. “I was in shock. If we’re going to be honest, the idea of winning a personal award is not what you get into education for. You want to see your students in the spotlight, but it was a great honor to win an award like this.” 

Dubbed the “Oscars of Teaching” by past recipients, Milken Educator Awards target early- to mid-career education professionals for their already impressive achievements and, more significantly, for the promise of future accomplishments. Stanley is Alabama’s 43rd recipient since the program’s inception in 1998 — the first from Pike County and one of 30 nationwide honorees in 2025. Stanley plans to save a portion of his winnings for his son’s college fund.

“Winning this award means exposure for our program,” said Stanley, who served as an FFA state officer in his native Illinois. “Highlighting a great little community like Goshen is something to be proud of. That’s been the part I’ve tried to highlight — how great this community is, how great the program is and how great my co-teacher, Cody Eiland, is.” 

The Pike County Ag Academy is the state’s only dual enrollment ag program. Students from GHS and Pike County High School interview during ninth grade to be accepted. 

Students take hands-on agricultural classes with Stanley and Eiland, plus college courses online through Enterprise State Community College. 

“Something I’ve found as I’ve taught is that it’s just as important for a child to figure out what they don’t like as what they do like,” Stanley said. “We try to have as diverse of a program as we can to expose them to as much of the agriculture industry. That allows them to see what their passion is — and what they could see themselves never doing.” 

The academy includes a cow-calf operation, small feedlot for freezer beef, sheep, goats, greenhouses and aquaculture. Students also grow about 100 pounds of hydroponic lettuce weekly in a climate-controlled shipping container. Local school cafeterias incorporate the lettuce into student lunch menus.

“Goshen is rural with several students having a tie to agriculture,” said Eiland, a past Alabama FFA state officer. “There are still some whose first introduction to ag is through our classrooms. We try to make the younger generation understand where their food is coming from.”

Chapter FFA President Jaden Law is proof the program is life changing. 

“FFA caught my interest in how Mr. Stanley and Mr. Eiland talked about it,” Law said. “Anybody could join it, and I wanted to be a part of something important. Even though I wasn’t familiar with cows and plants to the extent I needed to be, I learned and I conquered.”

Law credits Stanley and Eiland for his success and involvement with dual enrollment and ag. 

“They knew I was unfamiliar with agriculture, but they accepted to teach me,” Law said. “I’ve just gradually been able to work my way up throughout the three years. Their patience and teachings on handiwork, leadership skills and personality qualities that I need to have as a man have really helped me.”

Law said he and his classmates were proud of Stanley’s recognition. 

“It was well deserved, so I was surprised but also not surprised at the same time because I knew how hard Mr. Stanley works,” Law said. “It was just exciting. Everybody was really pumped up. It really brought a good energy throughout the entire chapter. Mr. Stanley is caring and very empathetic. No matter the situation or where the students come from, we’ve always been treated the same. He’s always loved us equally.”

Stanley said seeing students find their passions fills his cup. 

“I’ve always wanted to see my students and community shine,” he said. “That’s what I hope this award can do. This program ultimately is what causes everything to happen. It’s not me as an individual. I don’t do anything different than any other educator would. I’m just lucky enough to be able to have a great program and great kids.”