Regina Tottenham of the Brooklyn Transition Center, a high school in Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, was awarded the Teaching Matters Elizabeth Rohatyn Prize on Thursday.   

Tottenham said the $25,000 prize would allow the school to expand a mentoring program that pairs novice teachers with more experienced ones.

“We always have to carve money out for teachers,”  she told WNYC. “But to have this is just such a necessary luxury that I wish could have every year. It’s wonderful. I’m just so excited.”

The prize came from Teaching Matters, a non-profit that helps public school teachers develop their skills and improve their performance.

Tottenham had worked in special education for over a decade before becoming Brooklyn Transition's principal in 2011. She developed the mentoring program after realizing 42 percent of her teachers had less than five years experience and most of the others were close to retiring.

She said working with special education students is taxing, and can really put a strain on new teachers. One of the best ways to help them is giving them a buddy.  

The prize was open to public school principals from the New York metropolitan area, which includes New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania.

"We want schools who think they're doing great work to let us know," said Naomi Cooperman of Teaching Matters.