On Monday, Oct. 10, Ms. Elizabeth Palmer (CMA) attended an award ceremony at Ithaca College in New York to accept the S’Park Media Mentor Award.

Ms. Palmer is one of five teachers selected nationally for this award, which recognizes communications teachers who have shown commitment to student media.

Ms. Palmer was nominated by Emily Miles, her former student and the editor-in-chief of the Crimson yearbook in 2009. “I heard of [the award] last year,” said Ms. Palmer, “and Emily Miles sent a nomination form a long time ago. I totally forgot that she did all this.” Ms. Palmer received notification via e-mail informing her that she had won the award.

Manual students said that they are glad she received this award, and that she deserved it.

“I think it’s fantastic that she’s won. She deserves it for all the work she’s done for us. CMA would not be the same without her. She’s always pushing us to do our best, and I would have never reached my current skill level if she wasn’t here,” said Virginia Johnson (12), the newspaper editor-in-chief and design editor for the yearbook.

Micah McClain, who had taken design from Ms. Palmer, agreed. “I have known Palmer since I was in the eighth grade and transitioning into Manual. She has always been an inspiration to me and always provoked me to further my creativity as an artist,” Micah McClain (12) said.

Ms. Palmer, who has been at Manual since 2007, advises the yearbook and manualredeye.com. She also teaches desktop publishing and photojournalism.

Yazmin Martinez is a contributing photographer and reporter to RedEye.