Bermuda Institute English teacher Ruth Hetsberger topped the list of ten teachers to become the recipient of the 2012 Excellence in Teaching Award of the Alumni Awards Foundation.The presentation was made yesterday at Bermuda Institute by the AAF, a foundation that supports Seventh-day Adventist schools in North America and Bermuda.Described as “the kind of teacher that students respect, parents praise and colleagues admire,” Bermuda Institute principal Lois Tucker said Ms Hetsberger “has had quite an impact” after nine years of teaching.“When you want something done well, ask Ruth,” said Ms Tucker. “Teachers at Bermuda Institute are required to stay late once a week, but Hetsberger stays late every day offering extra tutorial time to students.“She also stays connected with parents so that they can be active in their child’s learning.”Ms Tucker noted that the recipient “got her students involved in creating ads and videos about the value of Adventists education”.And she organises student groups to “lead out in local church services, make nursing home visits and collect Christmas gifts for children in orphanages”.Ms Hetsberger also provides weekend activity options at the school including “student cook offs” on Saturday nights and hosts tea parties for her elective classes as students read “creative writing pieces for an audience”.At the presentation yesterday it was also noted that her students have also had their work published in books of student poetry.The award includes a medallion and a gift of $2,000 sponsored by Andrews University.“My reward is being able to speak freely about Christ in the classroom, listen to my students share their spiritual enlightenments, then wake up and do it again,” Ms Hetsberger said. “I would do this for free!”AAF selects ten teachers from the Seventh-day Adventist school system across North America and Bermuda annually. The non-profit organisation has awarded grants to SDA schools and teachers in excess of $2 million.More than a hundred “exceptional teachers” have received the award since 1995. The ten finalists will be celebrated in the weeks ahead.