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A former Navy “Top Gun” instructor and a teacher with more than 50 years on the job are among the winners of the Elkhorn Public Schools Foundation’s Hall of Fame Awards for 2009.
Navy Capt. Jeffrey Winter, who graduated from Elkhorn High School in 1985, was named outstanding alumnus. He graduated with distinction from the U.S. Naval Academy, earning a degree in aerospace engineering. Over the course of his Navy career, he has been deployed six times to the Persian Gulf and North Arabian Sea.
Winter served one tour as an instructor for the Navy Fighter Weapons School’s “Top Gun” course. He won the Navy’s Attack Pilot of the Year award in 2000 and the Navy/Marine Corps Leadership Award in 2007 and 2008. He has commanded two fighter squadrons and won three Meritorious Service Medals, nine Air Medals and five Navy Commendation Medals.
Donna Shannon, who has taught for more than 50 years, 42 of them with the Elkhorn Public Schools, received the Carl White Outstanding Educator award.
Shannon, who teaches fourth grade at Hillrise Elementary, started teaching in Ralston with a two-year teaching certificate. After 10 years, she earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Nebraska at Omaha. She began working for the Elkhorn district in 1967. She supervises the safety patrol at Hillrise and holds an after-school “study group” in her room for students who want to work on homework.
Other winners are:
— Sarah Addink, special education teacher at Manchester Elementary, Golden Apple award
— Becky Hayworth, special needs teacher assistant and Kids Campus site director, Manchester Elementary, Support Staff award
— Dennis Dau, Alumni Athlete award
— Kathy (Cranston) Burney, physical education teacher, Westridge and Hillrise Elementary Schools, Outstanding Alumna award
— Penny Sander, former journalism instructor at Elkhorn High School, Former Educator award
— Sid and Dawn Dinsdale, Pinnacle Bank, Community Booster
— Jennifer Pospichal, Mentor of the Year award
Contact the writer:
444-1223, julie.anderson@owh.com
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