BUTLER TWP— A Butler School District nurse claimed the 2008 Pennsylvania School Nurse of the Year Award.

Carol Patrick, who works in the Meridian and Center Avenue elementary schools, received the award from the Pennsylvania Association of School Nurses and Practitioners.

Patrick was recognized by the district Monday night at the school board meeting with a plaque.

Assistant superintendent Carolyn Cornish wrote a recommendation letter for Patrick and said Patrick's list of accomplishments is vast. Patrick develops plans for students with Type I diabetes who are starting school, works with new and student nurses, and gets answers when colleagues have questions.

"She is our legal guru on nursing issues," Cornish said.

Patrick, a nurse in the district for more than 15 years, is humble about the award, which she said came as a surprise.

"Every school nurse does what I do and they deserve the award," she said.

She likes her job, she said.

"I never get up to go to work and ask do I really have to work," she said.

The president of the school nurse association said Patrick gets involved in regional meetings.

"She is not afraid to take a stand for what she knows to be true as she fights for her students' rights. She is someone we would all want on our side," Charity Istone wrote in the association's congratulatory letter.

Patrick will be honored in March at the association's awards banquet, and she is now eligible for the National School Nurse of the Year award.