MacDonnell earned the prize thanks to “her role in improving school attendance rates and girls’ registration at” the Ikusik School in Salluit, a community in northern Quebec. For six years, MacDonnell has braved not just the kids in her classroom but arctic Canadian winters as well, with temperatures as low as 25 degrees below zero. That’s the least of her problems, though, since schools in these rural districts are often racked by high levels of drug abuse and teen pregnancy, not to mention teacher turnover. Low attendance levels correlate with these and other factors, but MacDonnell successfully instituted programs that spiked girls’ registration by 500 percent, getting her students involved in their communities and better prepared for their own futures – which happens to be exactly what education is supposed to do. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau agrees, and in a video message that was played at the awards ceremony he had this to say about MacDonnell’s accomplishments in her field: In addition to her work in education, MacDonnell also went well above and beyond by becoming temporary foster parent for children in need in her area, some of which included her own students. Clearly, this is one million-dollar prize that was unambiguously well-deserved.
