Thanks to the Vicksburg-Warren County Chamber of Commerce, a couple of upcoming awards will highlight four people in our community who sometimes have a thankless job.

The Educator of the Year awards, given annually to one elementary and secondary school teacher, will be announced at the chamber annual luncheon on Feb. 25. To sweeten the pot, the two winners of the awards will receive $1,000 each from Ameristar Casino.

Runners-up to the elementary and secondary teachers of the year will also be recognized with a prize of $500 each from Mutual Credit Union.

The awards also give The Post the opportunity to recognize the 21 teachers nominated for the two awards. You’ll see a feature on our front page each day detailing each of the nominees and some of the reasons why they were selected as a candidate for teacher of the year. Our photographer, Courtland Wells, has met each of the teachers in their classrooms to shoot environmental photos that accompany the articles.

Nominations are made by the teachers’ peers, which makes the honor of being in this select group all the more meaningful and special.

The responsibility of being a teacher of the year nominee does not stop with the application process, however. The chamber will select the two winners and runners-up after holding an in-person interview with all 21 candidates at the chamber office on Feb. 7.

It is our honor to publish the features and give these educators well-deserved recognition of their work in teaching and nurturing Warren County’s children. We commend the Vicksburg-Warren Chamber of Commerce for providing these awards year-after-year, and Ameristar Casino and Mutual Credit Union for sponsoring the prizes given to the winners.

As a profession, teachers are known for receiving low wages and stretching minimal resources to ensure our children get the best education possible and are ready to live a life of purpose after high school graduation and beyond. The opportunity to earn the recognition as Vicksburg-Warren County’s Educator of the Year is a small but needed way of saying thanks to these educators who make a difference in so many of our children’s lives.