A Rock Hill school board member is being honored for her long-running service to her community and education.

Wanda Jenkins was selected for special recognition earlier this month by the Ohio School Boards Association.

In praising Jenkins, OSBA Regional Secretary Paul D. Mock noted in a letter to Jenkins that there are more than 400 school board members in the southeast region who could have been chosen for this honor.

Jenkins was one of only four who received it.

“…this is a high honor and reflects that you have truly given 100 percent and more as a school board member,” Mock said in his letter.

Jenkins will be officially presented with the award at the southeast region’s fall conference Thursday near Athens.

Jenkins said she “was honored” with her selection and said her only desire in being a board member was that the students and their education be the top priority in the district.

Jenkins has served on the school board for more than 20 years. She was probably the first woman elected to the Rock Hill board and is the first in her district to receive this honor, according to OSBA spokesman Scott Ebright.

Though she has no children of her own, she admits she feels a bit maternal toward the more than 1,000 students who get their education at the district’s three schools.

“All those out there are mine,” Jenkins said. “That’s the way I feel about it.”