Whittier Primary School Teacher to Receive 2008 Service Above Self Award

2008 Service Above Self Award goes to area Teacher

When: Friday, March 7 -- Program to begin at approximately 12:15
Where: Cater Inn on Pioneer Parkway in Peoria
Sponsor: Rotary Club of Peoria

Patricia Reidy, First Grade Teacher at Whittier Primary School, will receive the Rotary Club of Peoria 2008 Service Above Self Award in Education Award on Friday, March 7th.
Mrs. Reidy has more than 30 years of teaching experience.
She was nominated by Dr. Sharon Desmoulin-Kherat, Principal of Whittier Primary School who had this to say about her. “Mrs. Reidy is enthusiastic, has a caring attitude, a love of learning, knowledge of discipline and classroom management, a will and a desire to make a difference in the lives of the children in her classroom. She forms strong relationships with her students and their parents. Because she is a teacher who is always focused on the incremental academic achievement of her students, she is excellent at redirecting and providing relevancy to keep them engaged and motivated.”
Mrs. Reidy and her students both give and receive from the community. For the past three years they have given generously to the Neighborhood Canned Food Drive. She purchases books at garage sales during the summer and returns to school each fall with an abundance of books for the entire school. Her classroom has received donated computers, paper, books and other supplies. On any given day, it is not unusual to have several parents volunteering in her classroom.
Mrs. Reidy is the 16th recipient of the Peoria Rotary Club’s Service Above Self Award in Education. The award was created to honor a teacher who best exemplifies the Rotary ideal of service above self; someone who puts educating students above self; the teacher who goes the extra mile. The teacher and the school each will receive $1,000.
Patricia Reidy is married to Charles Tucker, a local attorney and Brigadier General in the Air National Guard. They have three sons. She received her bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign.