Nominations for the fourth annual award to honor the legacy of educator Naida Finane are currently being collected by the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church Board of Trustees.

Any resident of Anderson or Roane counties who has demonstrated a superior act of compassion, love, and/or justice is eligible to be nominated for the Naida Finane Award for Courage and Tolerance, a press release said. The recipient shall have been at the forefront as a “voice for a more compassionate and inclusive greater Oak Ridge with the action(s) recognized having occurred in the greater Oak Ridge area and restricted to human issues.”

“Naida braved the world of Oak Ridge High School, where there was no club for GLBT students and took on the leadership for the first club. She was a memorable person for many students’ lives,” said her friend and fellow educator Jinx Watson.

“Naida’s infectious enthusiasm and openness, coupled with her originality, energy, and humor, captured the imaginations of students fortunate enough to find themselves in her classrooms during her 38-year teaching career, the majority of which was spent teaching English at Oak Ridge High School. A gifted and devoted teacher, an extraordinary person, whose innate joy and determination spilled out onto her family, friends, coworkers, and others, including her students,” words taken from her obituary. She died in February 2011. [Read more…]