School Volunteer Awarded $1,000

Carol Armour, a Fountain Valley resident and a school volunteer for 14 years, has been honored by the National Assn. of Partners in Education as an outstanding school volunteer in the category of program organization.

Armour, who devised a Fountain Valley High School drop-in center for at-risk students, defined as those in danger of failing or dropping out, last year donated 1,850 hours of volunteer time to the school, averaging 37 hours a week.

She was awarded $1,000 by NAPE and co-sponsors Kraft General Food and Walt Disney World Co.

Orange Coast College sophomore Voiza Arnold won Speaker of the Tournament honors at the recent National Community College Speech and Debate Tournament hosted by the college, which finished second in the team competition.

DuPage Community College, a college of 30,000 students near Chicago, won the event, which drew 700 students from 72 colleges throughout the nation.

Arnold, a Placentia resident, captured four gold medals on her way to victory.

Pat Ganer, a forensics coach at Cypress College who is stepping down after 20 years, was honored with the national Taylor-Collie Fellowship Award. Ganer was selected in a vote of forensics students other than her own. The award was presented at the recent National Community College Speech and Debate Tournament at Orange Coast College.

Yorba Linda resident Minot B. Dodson, a retired U.S. Army colonel, was named Security Professional of the Year by the 1,100-member California Assn. of Licensed Investigators. He is executive vice president of Pinkerton Security & Investigation Services in Van Nuys.

Anaheim resident Roger Braasch, director of adult education at the Garden Grove Unified School District, was honored as Administrator of the Year for Adult Education by the Assn. of California School Administrators, Region 17, representing Orange County. He is now a contender for state honors.

Irvine resident Carrie Howting recorded a third-place finish in the national Scholastic Writing Awards contest.

The seventh-grader at Harbor Day School in Corona del Mar competed against 22,000 other seventh- through ninth-graders in the contest, aimed at encouraging achievement in creative writing.

Howting won $75 for her short story entitled “Volleyball Trauma.”

Jim Carnett, a Costa Mesa resident and director of marketing and community relations for Orange Coast College, was presented the All-PRO award as the state’s public-relations professional of the year by the Community College League of California.

Carnett, 46, an OCC graduate, received his award at the league’s recent public-relations conference on the Queen Mary in Long Beach.

Susan Hinman of Dana Point, executive assistant to Supervisor Thomas F. Riley, was named Citizen of the Year by the Dana Point Chamber of Commerce.

Community worker Robin L. Koons, a Huntington Harbour resident, has been named Woman of the Year in the 58th Assembly District, represented by Assemblyman Tom Mays (R-Huntington Beach).

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