The Rotary Club of Cameron Park recognizes two outstanding teachers from the schools in our Rotary Club area annually. One teacher is selected from the 7th through 12th grades. One teacher is also selected from among the Kindergarten through 6th grades. Teachers from Ponderosa High School and the Buckeye, Latrobe, and Rescue Districts whose students matriculate fully or in part to Ponderosa High School are eligible. We use the Ponderosa residential boundaries because those are the approximate boundaries for our Rotary Club. Teachers can be nominated for the Teacher of the Year award by their peers, principals, department heads, or by students or parents. Nomination forms are submitted to our Rotary Club and then reviewed by our Teachers of the Year Committee. The Teachers of the Year Committee will review the nominations and may interview the nominees to get further information. The committee will then select one Teacher of the Year from the 7th through 12th grade nominees and one Teacher of the Year from the K through 6th grade nominees. A light meal will be held at each winning teacher's school in April where each of the Teachers of the Year will be awarded $1,000 from the Cameron Park Rotary Club.

Any teacher from Ponderosa High School or any of its feeder districts (grades 7 and 8) is eligible for the award given to 7th through 12th grade teachers. Any teacher who teaches Kindergarten through 6th grade at Buckeye Union School District, Latrobe School District or Rescue Union School District is eligible for the award given to K through 6th grade teachers.

At each school where a teacher who is to receive a "Teacher of the Year" award teaches, we will have a light meal and award ceremony. The light meal should be held in a room large enough to accommodate 50 to 100 people. The light meal should be something like drinks and rolls or sandwiches - nothing complicated or expensive. There will be about two weeks for the winning schools to prepare for the awards ceremony which should be scheduled in April. Representatives from our Rotary Club will attend the light meal to make the award presentation. Comments from an administrator and from the "Teacher of the Year" during the award presentation would be appropriate.

Any teachers from your school or the other schools eligible for the "Teacher of the Year" award could be invited. Parents, students, and local and district administrators are also good people to invite. We want this event to help you recognize your outstanding teachers; invite anyone you think will help you achieve this goal. Several representatives from the Rotary Club of Cameron Park will also attend the ceremony.

Our Rotary Club has a "Teachers of the Year" committee. That group will first review all of the nomination forms. We may contact schools for clarification of information on the forms. Then we will select the top few nominees from each of the two categories (K-6 and 7-12) . We may then interview the top candidates. After the interviews, we will make our final selections. Those selections will be announced to the appropriate schools so that preparations for the award ceremony can begin. Our goal is to have the final selections done by the second week of April.

At Ponderosa High School, contact the school principal. At eligible elementary and middle schools, your school district superintendent has appointed a key contact person. Check with your district superintendent for the name of the contact in your district. We would appreciate it if you do NOT contact our Rotary Club directly about this program. The participants from our Club change from year to year. Your school contacts will make any inquires of us on your behalf.