TURNERS FALLS — For their positive influence on the school community, Turners Falls High School senior Khiarieliex Huertas Hernandez and special education teacher Crystal McNary have been named the 2025 recipients of the McGraw Uplift Awards.

Hernandez, the 17-year-old student representative on the School Committee, Student Council vice president, class board member and tennis player, and 20-year educator McNary, received their awards during a ceremony in the school theater last week.

The award, named to honor the legacy of Earl McGraw, a former assistant principal who died of lung cancer in September 2016, is given annually to one student and one staff member who are nominated by their peers. Award recipients are known for treating everyone with respect and without judgment, lifting up people who seem down, striving to achieve their goals and exemplifying McGraw’s spirit.

French and Latin teacher Megan Bendiksen described Hernandez as friendly, approachable and generous.

“Fellow students said they always make everyone feel welcome,” Bendiksen said of Hernandez before the award was presented. “They always do their best to make sure everyone feels seen, and they take everyone into open arms. Nominations also noted how this person cares about how others are doing, which is one of the pillars of the award.”

Hernandez said she heard stories about McGraw from her sister, but she never expected to receive the award. She added that she doesn’t expect accolades for doing what comes naturally to her.

“I don’t do the things I do for awards,” Hernandez said. “I do it because I care.”

As for McNary, she earned the McGraw Uplift Award for her dedication to her students, as well as the perseverance she shows in her personal life that students and staff draw inspiration from.

“She models resilience daily for students, having faced challenges and tragedies in her own life, and comes out of all of that with her sense of humor, positivity, quirkiness and compassion still intact, or maybe even enhanced by all she has gone through,” fellow teacher Jessica Vachula-Curtis said emotionally about her colleague.

In reflecting on the award, McNary said, “I think that every student, every staff person in this building, they lift me up. They support me in being the best teacher that I can be.”

Erin-Leigh Hoffman can be reached at ehoffman@recorder.com or 413-930-4231.