Beginning next year, outstanding teachers and students at Amundsen High School in Chicago will be getting more than a pat on the back, thanks to a $1 million donation from Walgreen Co. Chairman and CEO Daniel Jorndt and his wife, Pat.

The money will be used to launch a program called "The Joy of Learning Awards," which will recognize three teachers and three students each year for their outstanding work in and out of the classroom. The awards will also be used to encourage people to enter and stay in public school teaching careers.

Each winning teacher -- picked on the basis of their positive impact on students -- will receive $10,000, half of which will go towards their work in the classroom. Three students will be selected to receive $5,000 scholarships, and another $5,000 will be given to the principal's fund for each winner.

Dan Jorndt graduated from Amundsen in 1959, and had not set foot back in the school until he was invited to participate in the school's "Principal for a Day" program, an event he describes as giving him "a good personal jolt." His father worked at the school for over two decades, leaving in the 1950's, and his two brothers are both educators.

"I'm a product of the Chicago public school system and have a vested interest in the quality of education it provides," Jorndt told the media.

The awards, administrated by the Dan and Pat Jorndt Amundsen High School Learning Foundation, will run for at least the next 20 years. The donation is believed to be the largest to a single public school in Chicago history.

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