Teacher, police officer, firefighter honored by Palm Beach Civic Association

A teacher, a police officer and a firefighter were honored by the Palm Beach Civic Association last week for their service to the community.

Palm Beach Police Sgt. Kendall Reyes, Palm Beach Public Elementary School teacher Katie Judge, and Palm Beach Fire-Rescue Lt. Michael Bennett received Raymond J. Kunkel Awards April 8 during the association's annual meeting at the Flagler Museum.

Established by in 1976 by the Civic Association in recognition of its former chairman, the Raymond J. Kunkel Awards honor individuals or organizations who have rendered heroic or meritorious service to the Palm Beach community.

This year's winners were announced by Kunkel Committee Chairman William Matthews and member Michael Reiter before an audience of more than 300 people.

“The Kunkel Awards are for our fellow citizens who walk among us who have become heroes because of the exemplary work they do every day or because of how they have reacted to extraordinary circumstances,” Matthews told the Daily News. “These three recipients of our 2024 Kunkel Awards certainly meet that standard.”

Judge, a third-grade teacher, was chosen from among 13,000 classroom teachers at 182 schools as the Palm Beach County School District’s 2024 Teacher of the Year.

She was selected for the award because of the strong relationships she builds with teachers and families, according to the school district.

Judge has taught in Palm Beach County since 2011.

Reyes was one of several Palm Beach Police officers who responded to reports of a woman who threatened to jump from the roof of a five-story building in the South End last June. Another woman was already on the roof trying to help.

Reyes credited the woman with creating the distraction that helped Reyes sprint 15 feet toward the woman in distress, who had sat down at the edge of the building’s roof and swung over her legs, she told the Daily News in September.

As a result, Reyes was awarded a Carnegie Medal, which is North America’s highest honor for civilian acts of heroism, in September.

She has been a police officer for 16 years.

Bennett led a Palm Beach Fire-Rescue crew to the aid of two teenagers who were having difficulty swimming in the ocean offshore from a South End hotel in November.

Within seconds of arriving on the scene, Bennett entered the water and was able to reach an 18-year-old and a potential rescuer who also was struggling to swim back to shore. Bennett gave them a flotation device and swam both of them, through high waves, about 50 yards back to shore.

Bennett has been with the department for eight years. He is assigned as the Truck 99 officer at Fire Station 3.

For information on the Palm Beach Civic Association, visit https://palmbeachcivic.org/.

Jodie Wagner is a journalist at the Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach her at jwagner@pbdailynews.com. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Palm Beach Civic Association honors 3 with meritorious service awards