Roses to Angela Morales Levy, a fifth-grade teacher at Carrboro Elementary School, who recently won the 2012 International Educator of the Year Award.

The award is given to outstanding teachers who inspire students, colleagues and community members to embrace different world views.

Morales Levy’s award also highlights the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools’ support for the N.C. Global Schools Network, an alliance of schools, school districts, organizations and businesses that are committed to creating collaborative approaches to international education.

The district was among the first school districts in the state to support GSN’s goal to create education systems with a deep commitment to international education and 21st century student preparation.

Roses to Hillsborough, whose main drag was named one of the six Great Main Streets by the N.C. Chapter of the American Planning Association.

Churton Street and the other winners were selected from dozens of nominees. Criteria included how well a street functions and helps preserve its community; its character and appearance, accommodations for cyclists and pedestrians; and other measures.

“Churton Street is a true, small-town main street that has served as the community core of the town and county for over 250 years,” the award nomination read.

The other winners, by the way, were Lexington Avenue in Asheville; Tryon Street in Charlotte; Broad Street in Edenton; Main Avenue in Gastonia, which was named a “Great Place in the Making”; and Main Street in Mount Airy, which won the People’s Choice Award.

Raspberries to Orange County for spending considerably more than necessary to send notices regarding a proposed cleanup program to several hundred residents.

The county send the notices to inform residents near the Eubanks Road landfill about a program to clean up illegal dump sites on their property.

Sending each of those notices by registered mail – at $13.75 a pop – seems a little excessive.

In all, it cost taxpayers more than $4,000 to have that mail delivered. There are plenty of less expensive ways to get the word out.

Given the tight times, we ought to be watchful for needless expenses.

Roses to the seventh-graders at Phillips Middle School, who have become involved with a remarkable national project to fight Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, the world’s No. 1 genetic killer of children.

Science teachers Bob Bedell and Jillian Grimm showed their classes “Darius Heads West,” a documentary about Darius Weems, an Athens, Ga., teenager with DMD. In 2005, Weems, who lost an older brother to the disease, set out with 11 friends to make their way to Los Angeles to raise awareness and money for research on DMD. They filmed their journey, and the resulting documentary has won 28 film festival awards and led to more than $2 million raised for DMD research.

The students at Phillips, inspired by Weems’ story, organized a penny drive and other fundraisers, and have raised more than $500 for the cause.

What’s more, Weems and his team are setting out this month on a month-long “Believe” Tour from Athens to New England. Their first stop, Monday, May 14: Phillips Middle School.