The Rotary Club of Kirkland recently awarded its coveted Educator of the Year Award to two outstanding teachers from the Lake Washington School District during its meeting at the Woodmark Hotel May 24. Begun in 1989 by then-Club President Dick Weston, the award is given to formally recognize classroom excellence and dedication.

Brandon Honcoop, event chair, announced this year’s winners, both of whom were present at the club meeting and who received a warm welcome from club members. This year, the honorees were: Kirkland Junior High math teacher Amy Myhre and Lake Washington PE teacher Dave Chambers.

No one loves math more than Myhre – students that aren’t even in her class come to her for help. When Myhre accepted her award she told the Rotary that she had wanted to teach math since she was four years old. She first took her love of math and teaching to a classroom in a juvenile prison, and she is completing her 20th year in Lake Washington School District. She has three children, one in high school, one in junior high and one in elementary. Myhre’s mother, who was visiting Montana, also attended the meeting.

Principal Brad Malloy introduced Dave Chambers as “a quiet leader” and said “Dave has integrity and character you can’t teach.”

Chambers has been teaching 10 PE classes of 35 students a year, and, over the course of his teaching career, he has impacted thousands of kids’ lives. This is his 35th year of teaching and his 29th with Lake Washington High School. He coaches boys’ baseball and has taken his team to the playoffs and won many awards.

He will retire at the end of this school year, and Lake Washington High School has dedicated the baseball field in his honor. Chambers introduced his wife as his guest at the award dinner and talked of their son and four grandchildren. As he accepted his award, he told the Rotary how one of his baseball players went on to play in the Major Leagues as a catcher for the San Diego Padres. Chambers recently got to watch him play against the Mariners.