Rotary Club of Dallas Honors Two PH Teachers

The Rotary Club of Dallas has named three teachers — two from Preston Hollow — as recipients of its Service Above Self Award.

The awardees included Anna Marie Sifford from Hillcrest High School and Adriana Popa from Sudie L. Williams Talented and Gifted Academy.

“The annual ‘Service Above Self Teacher Awards’ issued by the Rotary Club of Dallas, this year for the 31st time, is one of the highlights of our Rotary year at our 112-year-old club,” Rotary Club of Dallas president Hubert Zajicek said.

Sifford teaches history and sponsors Hillcrest’s Junior World Affairs Council. Past honors include International Educator of the Year in 2012 from the World Affairs Council of DFW and being a Marshall Memorial Fellow in 2013, resulting in eight weeks of meetings and events with European heads of state.

Popa is a seventh- and eighth-grade science and physics honors teacher. She earned the rank of exemplary teacher last year and 100% of her physics honors students passed their year-end exam. She has been recognized by Texas Instruments for her STEM teaching and organized a seventh-grade field trip to Austin for students to visit the University of Texas and meet elected officials.

Selected from hundreds of applicants, winners received a custom engraved plaque and a $3,500 cash award from the Rotary Club of Dallas. Gloria Prieto-Puentes from Lakewood Elementary is also an awardee.

“The awards are made possible by a generous anonymous donation to the Rotary Club of Dallas Foundation many years ago, with the stipulation that only Dallas ISD teachers are to be eligible,” Zajicek said. “We enjoy celebrating our teachers annually and by saying thank you to three remarkable teachers in this setting.”