Maine educator Nancie Atwell wins Global Teacher Prize | The Compost Bin | Forums

Really surprised she won, Maine doesn't usually rank very high in education. Cool that she is giving away the prize

BANGOR, Maine — A teacher of teachers from Maine won what has been called the “Nobel Prize of Teaching” on Sunday in Dubai, as well as the $1 million prize that comes with it.

She was among 5,000 educators, representing 127 countries, nominated for the Global Teacher Prize.

“I’m honored to accept this award, especially so in the company of these extraordinary teachers,” Nancie Atwell, 63, of Edgecomb said Sunday morning, moments after her name was announced. She awaited the name of the winner on a Dubai stage alongside nine other finalists from around the globe.

Atwell, who began her teaching career in 1973, started the Center for Teaching and Learning, an Edgecomb-based K-8 school, in 1990. Faculty at the “demonstration school” of about 80 students develop effective teaching methods and share them with educators around the world, who come to observe in her classrooms. Atwell continues to teach students, as well as the visiting teachers.

She said in a January interview with the Bangor Daily News that, if she won, she hoped to use the $1 million prize to support and provide more student scholarships for the Center for Teaching and Learning. She also would like to invest some of the money in books, because her school places a heavy focus on reading. Students are encouraged to read what they want to read.

https://bangordailynews.com/2015/03/15/news/state/maine-educator-nancie-atwell-wins-global-teacher-prize/?ref=mostReadBoxNews