Teacher Who Won $1M Award Accused of Stealing $15 Blouse

An English teacher from Maine who won the $1 million Global Teacher Prize last year has been accused of shoplifting a blouse worth $14.99, the AP reports. According to the Portland Press Herald, security personnel saw Nancie Atwell browsing through a Damariscotta store on March 28. The security officers say she removed the blouse from a hanger, rolled it up, and placed it in a bag she was carrying. Atwell says it was a misunderstanding—she returned another item and took the blouse in exchange. She's scheduled in court next month on a misdemeanor theft charge.

Atwell is the founder of the Centre for Teaching and Learning in Edgecomb, Maine. She was selected as the Global Teacher Prize winner from 1,300 applicants from 127 countries at a ceremony in Dubai with former President Bill Clinton in attendance. She said the money would go toward school improvements. (More shoplifting stories.)