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Officers of Elizabethton’s Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2166 presented Amanda B. Righter from West Side Elementary with an award and a $100 gift certificate. Righter was selected as the 2024-2025 Smart/Maher VFW Citizenship Education Award winner at the elementary school level. A 2009 graduate of East Tennessee State University, Righter brings 14 years of teaching experience to her third grade students at West Side Elementary. Andy Wetzel added that the VFW conducts multiple annual programs dedicated to youth and citizenship education and civic responsibility. Elizabethton’s VFW Post 2166, established in 1931, recognizes an elementary level winner from all nominated educators. Local nominations for teachers are received each year in the fall, with the winners determined in November. Winners then advance to compete at district level, with potential follow-on awards at both state and national levels. Pictured are Commander Wetzel, West Side Principal John R. Wright, Amanda B. Righter, Kit Crawford, VFW Contest Committee Chair, and Dr. Tammy Markland, West Side Assistant Principal.