The Carbon County chapter of the Pennsylvania Association of School Retirees held its spring meeting Thursday afternoon at the Mahoning Ambulance Association building, Mahoning Township. At the meeting, the chapter presented Lauretta Woodson Awards to two recipients from the Lehighton Area School District.

Rhonda Rupell received the award as the educator for her service of 32½ years. She will be retiring at the end of this year.

“I’m very honored by this award, and taken by surprise a little bit,” Rupell said. “I do what I love to do. I love to help kids, whether in school or out of school.”

Lori Frey received the award as a member of the support staff. She has worked in education for just over 30 years.

“I was really surprised by this award, and very thankful,” Frey said. “It’s nice to see all the retired teachers here, many of them that I have worked with. It’s a lot of learning, a lot of challenges; but, I had fun along the way.”

The awards are named after Dr. Lauretta Woodson, who taught at Eddystone School District in the 1950s and Temple University until she retired in 1984. She became very active in the Pennsylvania Association of School Retirees. When she passed away, she bequeathed a sum of money to PASR to be used for the support of public education.

The purpose of the Lauretta Woodson Recognition Program is to honor one educator and one support professional for doing an outstanding job within a district or school. Chapters select the award recipients and then present them with a medallion, certificate and PASR pin.