Rotary Club honors NPHS Spanish teacher

Amy Reed, a Newbury Park High School Spanish teacher, was honored recently by the Rotary Club of Newbury Park at a yearend faculty meeting.

Amy ReedReed, who’s taught Spanish for 32 years at NPHS, was presented one of Rotary’s highest honors, a Paul Harris award for the years of service she’s given to the local community and the world.

“The unassuming Reed, who embodies Rotary’s motto of Service above Self, expressed her surprise that the award was for her and not for one of the students in the Rotary-sponsored Interact Club for which she serves as the faculty advisor,” said Bob Warne, Rotary Club of Newbury Park’s youth service chair.

“Since Reed adopted the campus club a yearand-a-half ago, membership swelled to 40 students and there’s a whole new level of excitement about giving service,” Warne said.

Rachel Golombeck, a NPHS senior and president of the Interact Club, said, “Mrs. Reed is a fun person to work with. She really cares about us and makes everyone feel welcomed.” The Interact Club Reed presides over meets each week as a youth group that gets a buzz providing service to those in need.

Throughout the year, club members helped feed the homeless. And as part of Rotary’s Centennial Year celebration, the Interact Club raised more than $800 for students in Eritrea, a country that borders Ethiopia.

The Interact Club performed hundreds of hours of service during the course of the year, but topping the list of Reed’s favorites was participating in Relay for Life to raise money for the American Cancer Society.

Mike Berger, Newbury Park Rotary’s foundation chair, said, “Amy Reed is being recognized as a Paul Harris Fellow in special appreciation for the ways in which her life exemplifies the humanitarian and educational objectives of the Rotary Foundation.” “We move closer to a more peaceful world today as Amy Reed becomes a Paul Harris Fellow,” concluded Berger.

The Paul Harris Fellowship is named for the man who founded Rotary with three business associates in 1905.