RRH joins ENMMC, Read & Stevens as program sponsor
Roswell Regional Hospital has joined Eastern New Mexico Medical Center and Read & Stevens Inc. as sponsor of Character Counts in Chaves County’s Teacher of Character program this year.
CCCC Executive Director Cla Avery announced a call for nominations for the 2009-2010 Teacher of Character in a press conference Thursday at ENMMC.
Any teacher in Chaves County can be nominated for the award, from preschool through college, in public or private school, Avery said, adding anyone can submit nominations — students, parents, staff, peers “or people in the community whose students or children have been affected by teachers.”
Nomination forms also can be downloaded from the Character Counts in Chaves County Website, www.ccccnm.org. Avery said the organization is developing a process in which nominations can be submitted online, and he expects that to be ready in about a week.
Nomination forms have been distributed to school throughout Chaves County, Avery said. Nomination forms in English and Spanish also can be picked up at the Roswell Chamber of Commerce, the Rowell Hispano Chamber of Commerce.
Deadline for submission of nominations is Jan. 15, Avery said. Nominations can be hand-delivered to the Roswell Chamber of Commerce office, 131 W. Second St.; faxed to the chamber at (575) 624-6870; mailed to the chamber at Box 9999, Roswell, NM 88202; or be submitted by Internet. Postal submissions must be postmarked Jan. 15 or earlier.
A panel of judges will review applications and the top 30 will be chosen as finalists, Avery said. From those, judges will select one gold winner, four silver winners and 10 bronze winners, he added.
Award winners will be announced at a dinner Feb. 13 to which all nominees are to be invited.
Rod Schumacher, Roswell Regional chief executive officer, said it is an honor for the hospital to be a part of the Teacher of Character program.
“I think it’s quite appropriate that our two hospitals are two of the three sponsors,” Schumacher said. “We stand not only for hospital care but for wellness, mind, body and spirit, and I think that includes our character.”
Schumacher said RRH looks forward to being a part of the nomination and selection process.
“I know the teachers do,” he added. “It’s a big deal and we again are honored to participate along with the Medical Center and Read & Stevens.”
After the press conference, Schumacher said, “When we discus character with our children and youth, we must start by recognizing the significant contribution made by our teachers.
“This program encourages our teachers to continue their wonderful work, by rewarding those who have been recognized by their peers and students for their commitment,” he added. “We all benefit from the incorporation of the principles of character into our curriculum.”
Brad McGrath, CEO of ENMMC, said he was excited to have Roswell Regional Hospital join ENMMC and Read & Stevens as sponsors, “so that we have three of us supporting this program that’s so essential to the community.”
McGrath, who has been at ENMMC for two years, said he wasn’t familiar with the program when he first came to town.
“But now, having three children in the schools, I see it all the time,” he said. “It’s really become a culture. ‘Character Counts’: Everybody in the community knows something about it. It’s really got sticking power.”
Betty Stevens of Read & Stevens also said as a businesswoman she saw that children who received a foundation from Character Counts work to make Roswell a better place to grow.
“To reward these teachers is one of the exhilarating moments of my life, because of the work they do for all of us,” she added.
Retired District Judge Alvin Jones, co-chairman of the project with the late Jo Ann Jaramillo when it first began in Chaves County in1994, said the program has been successful since it began.
The Teacher of Character program was established in the last five years, Jones said.
“We wanted to have a project in which educators would be recognized for the crucial, essential role that they play in the development of the character of the young people as they go through their course of education in our public and private schools in our community,” he said.
The program was established first in partnership with ENMMC, then Read & Stevens joined later, Jones said, adding he welcomed RRH as the newest sponsor.
“Character Counts can only work in these partnership relationships,” he said. “We don’t have the resources by any means to do this on our own.”