WOODBINE, Iowa (KMTV) — A Woodbine Elementary principal thought she was attending an assembly with state officials to recognize the school system's achievements. She was right, but Jill Ridder didn't know the assembly was to honor her.
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Ridder is the only educator in Iowa and one of just 30 across the nation to receive the prestigious Milken Educator Award this year.
"I was very overwhelmed and shocked. I did not think my name was going to be called," she said.
Woodbine Superintendent Justin Wagner had to keep it a secret for three weeks.
"There's just a sense of true joy when you find somebody whose really making a difference like Jill has and is," Wagner said.
Sixth-grader Ellanore Breyfogle described Ridder as "sweet, thoughtful, kind, generous and honest."
Surrounded by past Iowa winners and her children, Ridder called her husband with the news. She warned him he was on speaker phone.
Ridder was recognized for implementing a personalized learning program where students move at their own pace.
"So, it took many years and many trials and a lot of failures before we kind of hit the sweet spot of personalized learning," Ridder said.
Sixth-grader Will explained the benefits: "You can learn at your own pace and you can go ahead of everybody."
"It's really easy to say we want to transform education, or we want to innovate in education and it's really hard to do," Wagner said.
Ridder is also a graduate of Woodbine. She says she doesn't yet know what she'll do with that $25,000 award, but she's thinking about how it can help her family and community.
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