When Nancie Atwell won $1 million last year as the first recipient of the Varkey Foundation’s Global Teacher Prize, she gave all the money to the small K-8 school she founded in Edgecomb, the Center for Teaching and Learning.
Since then, WCSH-TV reports, Atwell has been writing articles, doing interviews and speaking with policy makers about her philosophy of education.
She believes that children become strong readers and writers by getting a lot of practice, the TV report says. Students at the school choose their own books, with guidance from their teachers, and write essays about topics of their choice.
Atwell says she’s disappointed that the U.S. government has pushed the Common Core standards for public education, but she says the award allowed her to spread her own philosophy.
Atwell praised this year’s prize winner, Hanan Al Hroub, who she says has made her school in Palestine an oasis from the violence in the region.