Eanes school district administrators handed out awards to the district’s brightest stars and the area’s best volunteers in December. The district has been honoring staff members and volunteers with EANESpiration Awards twice a year for the last five years as a way to give some attention to people who normally tiptoe around the spotlight.

“Eanes ISD has many people who are dedicated to providing an outstanding education to the children of our district,” said Dale Whitaker, district communications director. “The EANESpiration Award was created to recognize people who go the extra mile to make our schools special and serve our students at the highest level.”

Any district employee can nominate a teacher, staff member or volunteer for an EANESpiration Award. Elementary campuses send up to three nominations, middle schools up to four, Westlake High School up to five and district-wide departments up to four nominations to Central Administration, where a committee reviews the nominees and selects final winners. EANESpiration Awards winners are named in the fall and spring.

The criteria for selecting award members? The nominee must have completed an exceptional act or effort such as the creation of an innovative program, development of a special event or an act of compassion.

“Basically, the cause for nomination should be potentially inspirational to others,” Whitaker said.

Trianon Coffee sponsored the recent awards, providing gift certificates for dessert and coffee and a bag of coffee to go to the winners.

The Barton Creek Elementary School winners were Jackie Boykin, fourth-grade collaborative teacher; Amanda O’Daniel, instructional coach; and Kathy Kutscherousky, principal’s secretary. Bridge Point Elementary School winners were Marianna Husain, instructional technology partner; Gretchen Atwell, parent volunteer; and Jessica Brown, special education teacher. Cedar Creek Elementary School winners were Tara Comerford, principal’s secretary; and Sandy Crump, third-grade teacher.

Eanes Elementary School winners were Laura Wright, third-grade teacher; and Linda Schaffner, instructional technology partner. Forest Trail Elementary School winners were Jane Lewis, physical education teacher; Sharon Bechtol, special education teacher; and Linda Kimbrough, nurse. Valley View Elementary School winners were Kay Denman, special education teaching assistant; Cathy Heine, parent volunteer; and Ryan Hermann, parent volunteer.

Hill Country Middle School winners were Marilyn Kounnas, parent volunteer; Leslie Wilson, library secretary; Sherill Barron, physical education teacher; Tanna Fiske, history teacher; and Danielle Wiest, counselor. West Ridge Middle School winners were Leigh Hummel, computer assistant; Amanda Curtis, speech communications teacher; Marcia Allen, parent volunteer; and Catherine Jordan, parent volunteer.

Westlake High School winners were Maddie Robertson, English teacher and Carolyn Hansard, parent volunteer. Non-campus winners were John Trigg, grades foreman for maintenance and operations; Chris Woehl, network coordinator for information systems; and Angel Morales, warehouse coordinator.