A Claiborne Parish teacher and her school have won the first Promising Practices Award in Louisiana, an honor created by the LSU AgCenter 4-H program to recognize educators who emphasize character education with their students.

Dana Smith, a Haynesville Junior/Senior High School teacher, coordinates an annual training to teach teen teams from Claiborne Parish schools about the importance of ethical, social and academic growth through character education.

Smith has coordinated the Haynesville teen teams for three years. Her teams go to elementary schools monthly and teach character lessons to third- and fourth-grade students, said Teresa Price, LSU AgCenter 4-H agent in Claiborne Parish.

“She is dedicated and passionate about developing the character of our youth,” Price said of Smith.

The Promising Practices Award was started in Louisiana in 2009 as part of a national 4-H program called Character Education Partnership, said Kimberly Jones, coordinator of LSU AgCenter 4-H character education.

Smith received a certificate and recognition at the Promising Practices Award ceremony during a 4-H forum on character education in Alexandria, Va., in October 2009. The Haynesville School was among 170 schools across the country to receive this recognition.