People rarely go into the teaching profession for the glory. Nevertheless, recognition seems only fair. Last month, the Vermont Humanities Council selected Joyce Yoo Babbitt, librarian at Browns River Middle School in Jericho, to receive the Victor R. Swenson Humanities Educator Award. Created in 2003, the award honors an educator in grades 6 through 12 who exemplifies excellence in teaching the humanities. In a post on its website announcing the selection, the council praised the way Babbitt combines "exceptional enthusiasm for teaching with technical proficiency and a sense of fun." In addition to supporting students' classroom projects, Babbitt leads a winter writing club, a photography club, an animation club and a Claymation club that produces an annual film festival, the post states. And in November, she spends three afternoons a week, and sometimes Saturdays, helping students participate in National Novel Writing Month. In recognizing Babbitt, "we pay tribute to all the fine teachers in the profession in the Green Mountain State, and we honor the important work they do," said VHC executive director Peter Gilbert.

Babbitt will be presented with the Victor R. Swenson Humanities Educator Award — along with a $1,000 check — on Saturday, November 5, at the University of Vermont's Davis Center during the Vermont Humanities Council fall conference.