Chamber of Commerce education chair Janet Holliday-Cashwell understands the value of recognizing a teacher's work.

For 11 years, Holliday-Cashwell taught English at public schools in eastern North Carolina and for six years at East Carolina University.

"I know what it meant to me when somebody recognized what you were doing with students," said Holliday-Cashwell, who now is the director of human resources, employee health and employee services at Duke-Raleigh Hospital in Raleigh. "I can see it from that angle too."

That's why Holliday-Cashwell enthusiastically heads up a program of the Knightdale Chamber called the Teacher Excellence Award.

Each month a Knightdale teacher is honored by the chamber for his or her work in the school system.

The chamber's board of directors brought the program back to life recently after it had become inactive for a while, Holliday-Cashwell said.

The teachers are presented a plaque and a $100 gift card at a chamber Business after Hours event. The awards are sponsored by the hosting businesses and the chamber.

The event also is a way for area business leaders to get involved in education, said Jennifer Bryan, the chamber's executive director.

"We want our business people to meet our educators and to get to know them," said Bryan. "It's a way to honor them as well."