TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - It's fitting that the first award in a field where distance doesn't matter has gone to a teacher who works for a school some 500 miles away.

Teresa Dove, of North Tazewell, Va., on Wednesday received the first National Online Teacher of the Year Award.

Dove teaches math for the Orlando-based Florida Virtual School.

The public school offers online classes to 125,000 students across Florida and around the world. Its 1,100 teachers can work from virtually anywhere.

Dove said she can give students more individual attention online even while caring for her two children at home and her mother at a hospital.

The Southern Regional Education Board and International Association for K-12 Online Learning presented the award.