Donna Carpenter’s smile was a mile wide to match the moment Wednesday as the Vicksburg High School teacher was named Educator of the Year at the secondary level.

“I’m stunned and really humbled by it — and honored, too,” Carpenter said after a Vicksburg Warren County Chamber of Commerce luncheon and ceremony marking the organization’s 26th installment of the educator awards.

Carpenter, who holds a master’s in English/library media from the University of Louisiana-Monroe, was nominated by peers at VHS and was selected from an interview process before a panel of retired teachers.

“It means a lot coming first from your colleagues,” Carpenter said. “And then when you see everyone who’s up for the award, we have some amazing teachers in our district.”

Carpenter, a senior English teacher, and Ashley Coomes, a language, writing and social studies teacher at Redwood Elementary, took home $1,000 checks from Ameristar Casino for the honors. Coomes was unable to attend due to illness at home, said A.J. “Buddy” Dees, the chairman of the Educator of the Year program.

Named secondary educators of the year at individual schools were:

• Francis Warren, Porters Chapel Academy

• Jordan Amborn, St. Aloysius High School

• Tierra Collins, Vicksburg Junior High School

• Joshua Stewart, Warren Central Intermediate

• Ruby Regan, Warren Central Junior High School

• Terry Wong, Warren Central High School

Named elementary educators of the year at individual schools were:

• Melissa Broome, Beechwood Elementary

• Christina Cochran, Bovina Elementary

• Sherry Garmon, Bowmar Elementary

• Penny Register, Dana Road Elementary

• Jennifer Stinson, Porters Chapel Academy

• Helen Ashley, Sherman Avenue Elementary

• Tamakki Burks, South Park Elementary

• Virginia Campbell, St. Francis Xavier

• Ida Allen, Warrenton Elementary

Ameristar also donated $4,500 to the Leader in Me program, a goals-based initiative in the public school system funded by the local business community. Bowmar, Bovina and Dana Road elementary schools have implemented the program fully. Dana Road, Redwood and Beechwood are in the process of doing the same.

Superintendent Chad Shealy touted the program’s success in terms of studies of levels of the stress hormone cortisol in the brains of children who’ve lived in poverty at least one year.

“You can’t take every child out of poverty, but what you can do is teach them skills like the Leader in Me point out,” Shealy said. “It improves their ability to form executive function.”

A series of “leadership days” at the three schools with full implementation starts 9 a.m. March 5, at Bovina. The next is 9 a.m. April 9, at Bowmar, then a third at 9 a.m. May 1 at Dana Road.