Karen Litteral, library media specialist at Putnam City’s Central Elementary School, was one of 10 finalists from across the state for the Polly Clarke Award offered by the Oklahoma Association of School Library Media Specialists. The award was established in 1988 to acknowledge school librarians who develop outstanding library programs. Litteral has been in the library media field for 23 years. She has been the library media specialist at Central Elementary School for 19 years, and is the school’s Teacher of the Year for this year.

Ty Bell, a math teacher at Western Oaks Middle School, is the Heartland Rotary Club teacher of the month for October.

Putnam City West senior Lauren West had a busy summer. She's managed to make her fall schedule busy, too. Over the summer, West attended the Congressional Student Leadership Conference in Washington, D.C. There, she met with national and international leaders, learned leadership, communications and conflict-resolution skills, and picked up lessons on the complexities of decision-making. She also attended the National Youth Leadership Forum on Medicine in Phoenix, where she learned firsthand from medical professionals about medical ethics, global effects of infectious diseases, genetic research and more. As a result of her summer conferences, her future, she believes, will be in practicing medicine in overseas service. Toward that end, West has created her own internship at Bone and Joint Hospital. She has already observed knee and hip replacement surgery and will continue to spend time with physicians as her schedule allows.