Nancie Atwell was never particularly fond of teachers growing up. It wasnt until she took over a class herself that she realized her fate.

Now, 42 years later, the English teacher from Maine has received the ultimate recognition for all her hard work in education by winning the $1 million Global Teacher Prize.

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.

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.

Kevin Spacey, a member for the Global Teacher Prize Academy, even congratulated Atwell on her win.