Nancie Atwell, a veteran English teacher from Maine, has won the $1 million Global Teacher Prize, and she plans to use the entirety of her winnings on a school she opened.

"Atwell, 63, beat out 1,300 applicants from 127 countries. And now she plans to donate all the money to the Center for Teaching and Learning, a nonprofit demonstration school she founded in Edgecomb, Maine, in 1990 with the purpose of teaching students and teachers at the same time," according to an article on People.com.

According to the article, "Sunny Varkey, founder of the Varkey Foundation, which focuses on education issues, presented the award to Atwell at a ceremony in Dubai on March 15, with the help of Dubai emir Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and Bill Clinton, who is honorary chair of the foundation.”

Atwell began her journey to opening her own school after "giving speeches all over the country allowed her to see the need for a demonstration school,” the article said.

"Atwell took the royalties she had from her book In the Middle and her Maine state teacher's retirement and started building the Center for Teaching and Learning, which now has 80 students in kindergarten through 8th grade," the article said.

According to the article, Atwell’s money “will go toward a new roof, new furnace and 'lots and lots of books,' she adds.”

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Article by Nicole Gorman, Education World Contributor