At the 2019 iSchool Convocation, Annie was awarded the 2019 Teaching Excellence and Creative Honors (TEACH) Award that was created to "to recognize exemplary teaching and outstanding contributions to teaching made by non-tenure track lecturing faculty."

In presenting the award, Associate Dean of the Faculty Joseph Tennis said: “Senior Lecturer Annie Searle is an outstanding instructor who challenges students in the classroom. As one nominator says, ‘Annie is a badass. She commands the classroom with her presence and made my first two quarters back in school extremely satisfying. I think her ability to engage with everyone in the class on a range of controversial topics is a hallmark of her fine ability to teach. She got us thinking about our jobs and lives, what we wanted to do and how, much more effectively than just learning a technical skill like programming languages. Annie's the GOAT.’ We are thrilled to offer her this award.”