There are awards that surprise you, and there are awards that make you nod and think, of course. When Mary Ridge was named the Junior Achievement 2025–2026 Educator of the Year, it was very much the latter.
Junior Achievement recognizes educators who help students see the connection between what they're learning and the world they're about to enter. It's a deceptively simple idea, but it takes real skill to pull off consistently, especially with middle schoolers who have an excellent radar for anything that feels forced or performative. Mary's classroom has never had that problem. Students there don't just learn content, they figure out what to do with it.
What stands out about Mary isn't any single lesson or project, it's the accumulation of small moments where a student leaves her class thinking differently about themselves or their future. That kind of teaching is hard to quantify, but it leaves a mark.
For those of us at GMS, this recognition feels like exactly what it is; confirmation of something we already knew. Mary Ridge is the kind of educator who makes you proud to work alongside her, and this award reflects not just what she's accomplished, but who she is.
Congratulations, Mary!