Phoenix Teacher Among First-Ever Winners Of $50,000 Amazon Award

PHOENIX, AZ — Amazon just treated Jill Jones to a double dose of happy surprises. On Monday, the computer science teacher at Carl Hayden High School logged into a staff video call, only to find that the meeting included an Amazon representative — who then informed her that she'd been selected for the company's "Future Engineer Teacher of the Year Award."

The other school staffers on the call, which included principal Julio Rubio, were in on the news that their colleague had just won the school $25,000.

But even the principal wasn't prepared for what happened next. After a round of applause, the Amazon representative interjected once again.

"In addition — and this is news to Mr. Rubio," she said, according to a recording of the call. "In light of this year, Amazon is going to be throwing in an additional $25,000 worth of school supplies for your classrooms."

On Tuesday, Amazon released a montage video featuring Jones and the other nine winners, many of whom appeared to have been similarly surprised in conference calls as they simultaneously learned the news that they'd won their schools $50,000.

Jones, who has been a teacher for 30 years, leads the instruction for Carl Hayden's Computer Sciences Magnet program.

"I am beyond humbled and honored to receive this award. I hope to use it to promote the message that computer science is for everyone," Jones said in a news release. "This award brings honor and recognition to our school and to all the hard-working and dedicated students we serve."

She added, "They will become champions for life through computer science."