She taught her students to run a food truck — then a surprise assembly handed Briana Jones $25,000

Briana Jones thought the school assembly was for her students. It was for her: the Central Falls High School teacher was surprised with a Milken Educator Award — the first of the 2026-27 season — and its unrestricted $25,000 prize. For 15 years Jones has taught the transition programme for students aged 18 to 22, and she built 'The Taste of Central Falls', a student-run food truck she learned to drive and cook in alongside her class; it is now a model for the whole state of Rhode Island, open to general and special education students alike. 'Briana Jones's commitment to her students is changing lives in Central Falls,' said the Milken Foundation's Dr Jane Foley.

SDG 4 · Quality education — Mechanism: individual leader