Kiara Hargrove flung her hands in the air, high-fived a line of her students, wiped tears from her eyes and leaped across the gym to hug another teacher.

She had reason to celebrate: Hargrove, a chemistry teacher and cheerleading coach at Polytechnic Institute in Baltimore, learned Thursday that she is among 75 educators across the nation this year to win $25,000 from the Milken Family Foundation.