Enumclaw High School teacher Lynda Alley was recently honored with a 2011 Teacher of Excellence Award after being nominated by a former student.

Alley received the 2011 Teacher of Excellence Award from The Evergreen State College. The award honors educators who have made a difference in the lives of their students.

Alley was nominated by Amara Hatfield, a recent attendee of Enumclaw High School, who is now a student at TESC.

Michael Zimmerman, academic vice president and provost at TESC, explained, “In an attempt to encourage our students to think about teachers who made a difference, I asked our incoming students to nominate via e-mail the teacher they felt made the biggest difference in their education.”

In nominating Alley, Hatfield said, “Ever since the fifth grade, when I started playing the viola, she realized I had much potential, and she coaxed it out of me for many years.”

Alley  is one of 40 elementary, secondary-school or college teachers from  11 states and four countries to receive the Excellence Award. Each teacher receives a certificate and a window decal.

“We are reminded every day that teachers change lives,” Zimmerman said. “What we wanted to do is encourage our students to think about teachers who have interacted with them in a professional setting and gone beyond the norm – people who have committed to the process of learning and made the biggest difference in their education.”