Modesto Rotary, county name teachers of the year

Five area educators were honored as Stanislaus County teachers of the year for 2017 by the Modesto Rotary Club and the Stanislaus County Office of Education at an event last week.

Winners included Andrea Cadrett of Agnes Baptist Elementary School in the Empire Union School District in the TK-3 division; Craig Tornquist from Sinclear Elementary School in Ceres in the 4-6 division; Jennifer Anderson of Sylvan Unified’s Somerset Middle School in the junior high division; and Laura Brem of Pitman High School in Turlock in the high school division. Each received a $1,000 cash award and a $700 give card from Nasco.

Efrain Barron of Walnut Grove K-8 School in Patterson received the Jane Johnston Civility Award. It honors the former Stanislaus County Office of Education assistant superintendent who helped launch the countywide Choose Civility Initiative two years before her unexpected death in 2012.

The event marked the 19th year Modesto Rotary and the Office of Education joined forces to recognize top educators.

VFW honors Loyalty winners

Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3199 recognized public safety officers and school students during its annual Loyalty Day event in April. Anthony Elliott earned safety officer of the year honors while Jose Ramirez was named fireman of the year. The Voice of Democracy winner was Natalia Cipponeri of Modesto High School, with Angel Whitson of Davis High the runner-up. Patriot Pen awards went to winner Avni A.Parmar, second-place finisher Allison Shewfelt and third-place finisher Emma K.Montilla, all of Prescott Junior High.

Cipponeri won the Patriot art award. Patrick Durr of Modesto High was named teacher of the year. Post 3199’s woman and man of the year were Elizabeth Addi and Joe Velasquez, respectively.

American Red Cross needs hero nominees

The American Red Cross will celebrate 100 years of heroes in July and is looking for nominees among Stanislaus County residents for consideration.

The event will be July 12 at the DoubleTree by Hilton in Modesto. The agency wants to know about people in the community who demonstrated acts of heroism over the past year. To nominate a hero, submit a story of why he or she should be recognized. Nominees must live or work in Stanislaus County and be someone who has gone above and beyond the call of duty to exhibit a true act of selflessness. Categories include Good Samaritan, Military and Hero of the Year.

The deadline to submit nominations is May 30. Nomination forms can be found at www.redcross.org/GoldCountry, by clicking on “2017 Heroes Awards.” You can also nominate directly from the website. For more information about the event, contact Kris Kirkpatrick at 916-993-7081, or email kris.kirkpatrick@redcross.org.

This story was originally published May 6, 2017 at 5:15 PM with the headline "Modesto Rotary, county name teachers of the year."