NEPTUNE BEACH, Fla. – The Neptune Beach City Council honored a Fletcher High School teacher for the way he's led his students beyond the classroom Monday evening.
The mayor read a proclamation and the council chamber resonated with applause. The teacher, Doug Brown, said the biggest smile he gets comes from the students as they give back to their community.
The connection between Brown, his students and their parents seems to be just what you'd want in your local school. The young people you see surrounding their teacher are learning about philanthropy and how to meet needs in their community.
Brown received the mayor's proclamation Monday night-- recognizing his outstanding contribution through education. And he said his favorite part of the ceremony was the children.
“Absolutely the kids. It's nice to be recognized, after a while it's like, oh boy. It's definitely better to have them on a daily basis,” Brown said.
Brown leads 100 students through the interact club at Fletcher High School, sponsored by the rotary club.
They've raised money and done various service projects -- including the one that touches veterans lives. They've raised $40,000 for K9's for Warriors.
“We’ve embraced K9’s for Warriors. They’ve treated us incredibly well. We did a lot of stuff for BEAM at the Beach. We do USO ‘No Dough’ dinner once a year, festivals for elementary schools, tutor-- whatever we can get to engage these folks, get them out in the community,” said Brown. “ We've sponsored four dogs, and by the end of the year, we should have number five. 1000 taken care of…It's a very worthy cause and that's why the kids have embraced it so well.”
“It is incredible. When Doug first came to us, we weren't sure where the partnership was going to go. However, he was very energetic about it, the kids loved the project. They went out every weekend and sold the rubber bracelets for the first dog and sold 10,000 of them at $1 apiece for their first dog,” said Brett Simon, the director of K-9 operations for K9's for Warriors.