The Lake Tahoe Educational Foundation will host the 18th annual Celebration of Education from 6 to 9 p.m. May 31 at Harrah’s Lake Tahoe special events center. The public is invited to attend and honor retiring personnel from the Lake Tahoe Unified School District.

The celebration will begin at 6 p.m. with no-host cocktails and dinner will be served at 6:30 p.m. The cost is $35 per person and reservations may be made by contacting Del Laine at (530) 544-6249 or lainetahoe@aol.com. Reservations must be made by May 25 and tables may be arranged at no additional cost.

Retiring personnel who will be honored are:

* Joanne Bottini taught for two years in the Bellevue Union School District and two years for San Rafael City Schools before coming to the Lake Tahoe Unified School District, where she has taught for the past 31 years. She served the first, second and third grades at Meyers Elementary School, first grade at Al Tahoe Elementary School and third grade at Tahoe Valley Elementary School. She holds a BA degree in education from California State University, San Francisco.

* Joanne Finkler started as a substitute teacher and has 38 years with the district. Previously, Finkler taught English in Palo Alto, Santa Barbara, Pleasant Hill and Berkeley. She has taught seventh-grade core language arts and AVID at the South Tahoe Middle School and English at South Tahoe High School. Finkler is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley with a major in history and minor in English.

* Greg Komorowski first taught in Santa Clara, San Luis Obispo and Riverside and has 31 years with LTUSD teaching all subjects at Mt. Tallac Continuation School and STHS Transitional Learning Center. He holds a BS degree in art and English from Tahoe College and a master’s degree in education from the University of Southern California.

* Pamela Lannen first taught in Los Angeles City Schools and has taught for 34 years as a Spanish language teacher for the adult education program and South Tahoe High School. She is a graduate of California State University, Northridge, with a major in Spanish and a minor in history.

* Michael Makley, a 1966 graduate of South Tahoe High School, started his teaching career in 1973 and has been with the district for 34 years. He had taught fourth, fifth and sixth grades at Meyers Elementary School, all subjects at Mt. Tallac Continuation School, history and Family Life at South Tahoe Middle School and all subjects at the STHS Transitional Learning Center. Makley earned a BA degree in behavioral science from Tahoe College and holds a standard elementary credential with lifetime authorization.

* Karen Nelson began her teaching career with Mountain View-Los Altos Union High School District, where she taught physical education and health for 16 years. She has been with LTUSD for 20 years, teaching adaptive physical education. Nelson holds a BA degree from Wheaton College and a master’s degree from Indiana University, majoring in physical education.

* Bill Rich worked 19 years at South Tahoe High School beginning as campus supervisor, then as instructional assistant, assistant football coach and ending his career as campus security assistant.

* Molly Rodriguez was with the school district for 16 years, retiring in 2006. She was at Bijou Elementary School and South Tahoe High School, working as an instructional assistant in special education and general education classes as well as summer school.

* Cindy Shinault began her career with LTUSD in 2001, serving first as senior secretary at the district office, then transferring as secretary to the associate and assistant principals at South Tahoe School, and completing her years as secretary at Meyers Magnet School. Earlier she held positions with Yuba Community College and other public schools.

* James Valdes taught at Linda Vista Elementary School in Saddleback for seven years and has 24 years with the district, having taught math, social studies, eighth-grade core and shop and served as assistant principal at South Tahoe Middle School. He holds a BS degree from California State College, Fullerton with a major in physical education and a master’s degree from CSC, Fullerton majoring in counseling and guidance. Valdes has both a standard elementary credential with lifetime authorization and a professional administrative services credential.