Minn. Teacher Wins Milken Educator Award

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A Minnesota grade school teacher is the winner of the prestigious Milken Educator Award, considered the "Oscar award of teaching."

Fifth grade Princeton, Minnesota, teacher Angela Harvala won the national award.

It recognizes outstanding performance in the classroom.

"There are a lot of students who are struggling right now with things that I could not fathom when I was a child that age," she said at the state Capitol on Thursday. "So I think making connections with students is so very important."

Harvala is known in her school for developing individual lesson plans based on a student's life experiences.

She won $25,000 as part of the award.