Paula Doll selected as 2008 Golden Halo Award winner

Paula Doll (left), the 2008 Golden Halo Award winner, and Jeanne Sweeney, president and CEO of the Christian Chamber of Southwest Florida Paula Doll, a first-grade teacher at Evangelical Christian School in Fort Myers, has won the 2008 Golden Halo Award from the Christian Chamber of Southwest Florida, Inc.

Ms. Doll was selected from 10 finalists who were narrowed down from more than 60 nominations received by the Christian Chamber. She received a custom diamond pin created and presented by Todd Schusterman from Southwest Florida's Diamond District, a $1,000 award and one year of Sky Angel's Family Values Pak television subscription service.

"We are so excited that Miss Paula Doll won this year's Golden Halo award and we know that Evangelical Christian School has been blessed by having her teach there for the last 20 years. We are certain that she has touched more little hearts than we can ever imagine," said Jeanne Sweeney, president and CEO of the Christian Chamber of Southwest Florida. "We believe that all teachers, whether they were finalists or not, are special angels. Each one carries their own halo."

The Christian Chamber of Southwest Florida began the first-in-the-nation recognition of outstanding teachers in Christian private schools in Lee, Collier, Charlotte, Glades and Hendry counties back in 2006. Since then, more than 200 teachers have been nominated.