Passionate about education. Compassionate. Funny. Organized.

These were the words that Vicki Beals, a resource room teacher at South Junior High School, used to describe her co-worker Mary Ann Henry.

It’s no wonder, then, that Henry, 69, was honored with the $5,000 Special Award for Dedication to Education on Thursday at South Junior High School, where she is a special education teacher.

“Oh heavens,” Henry said, laughing. “I was totally shocked. I said I would be speechless for the rest of my life. I was so surprised. I see it as an award for everybody, for the people that I teach with, for the parents, for the kids. It’s everybody’s.”

The award was created last year through the Lawrence Schools Foundation by a group of community members who were inspired by their fathers’ generosity. They are the sons and daughters of another group of anonymous donors who share the first name Bob. The Bobs’ Award is a $10,000 Special Award for Teaching Excellence and was established in 1997.

The sons and daughters of “The Bobs” created the $5,000 award to honor a school employee who supports the district’s mission of “learning for all, whatever it takes” by ensuring that challenged and disadvantaged students learn.

“She probably has taught me more about teaching than anybody else,” Beals said of Henry. “I think the entire team has learned so much from her on working with students and working with staff and working with families. She is our leader.”

Henry has worked for the district for 36 years, starting as a sixth-grade teacher at Kennedy School. She served as special education teacher at Central Junior High School from 1974 to 1984 and then moved to South.

Henry said she’s seen many changes over the years, but the biggest was implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.

“The federal mandates for special education are huge, and a lack of funding to support what is legislated is huge,” she said.

Technology has been another big change. Students now complete assignments on computers instead of paper, and parents can monitor their children’s homework, tests and absences from home. She believes that monitoring system has brought a much closer connection between home and school.

“It is just amazing,” she said. “For a kid to be successful, you have got to have both. You have got to have parental support. So, it’s wonderful.”

Henry plans to use the money to visit her daughter and son-in-law and brother and sister-in-law, who live near Bethel, Alaska, about 450 miles southwest of Anchorage.

“It’s very remote. It is difficult and expensive to get there,” she said, adding that English is the second language there.

She said they don’t see one another often, so the money will be used for a special trip next year.