A language arts teacher from Maine last week won the Global Teacher Prize that comes with a $1 million award.
A teacher for more than four decades, Nancie Atwell founded and teaches a reading and writing workshop at the Center for Teaching and Learning, a demonstration school she founded in Edgecomb, Maine, in 1990. Ms. Atwell has also been a vocal advocate of the importance of reading books in schools, and particularly of the importance of giving students the freedom and space to engage deeply with books and develop a love of reading.
She was one of three U.S. teachers in the top 10 finalists, out of 1,300 teachers from 127 countries who applied for the Varkey Foundation award. The foundation is the philanthropic branch of Gems Education, a Dubai-based company that works to improve access to education across the globe.
