Rotarians honor teacher

It's called an Evening in Paris, but the guest of honor will be all-American teacher Ananda Campbell.

The 31-year-old will receive the $5,000 teacher of the year award at the Carson City Noon Rotary Club annual fund-raiser Saturday.

Campbell gave a presentation on Tuesday to the Rotary and is scheduled to receive the $5,000 award at the Rotarians annual fund-raiser on Saturday.

"They just about had to scrape me off the ceiling," Campbell, a history teacher, said about being told she'd won the award.

"I was asked to put in an application for this award back in January and I was a little overwhelmed by it," she said. "I put the application together not expecting anything to come of it. Then I made the final."

According to Norman Subotky, Campbell's Veteran's Day project, part of her 3-year service learning program, was the clincher.

As part of their service, students organized and participated in a flag retirement and Veteran's Day commemoration ceremony.

Her competition for the final included Brian Reedy of Carson High School and another Carson Middle School teacher.

"I knew my program was a great program, but you always think that about your own work," she said. "You do it because of the feeling you get from the kids and the pride you get from watching them work, not because you are going to get an award."

She received word she won from Helaine Jesse.

"It shocked my dad because he went to high school with her," she said.

Campbell was born in South Lake Tahoe and moved to Carson City with her family as a girl.

She is a 1989 graduate of Carson High School and a 1995 graduate of the University of Nevada, Reno. She received a masters degree in education in 2000 from Grand Canyon University.

She started at Carson Middle School as a long-term substitute after graduating from college. About nine months later she was offered the job permanently.

Saturday's Evening in Paris will be at the Carson Nugget. Tickets are $100 each for the black tie optional event.

For tickets or to donate something for the live and silent auction contact Genevieve Frederick at 841-7163 or raygen.frederick@worldnet.att.net.