The Rotary Club of Santa Monica honored Santa Monica Police range master Jason Charles Mann, Santa Monica firefighter/paramedic Jeffrey Furrows and Santa Monica teacher Sharon Hart at its annual public service recognition luncheon Friday, May 11^th, at the Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades.

      Each year the Rotary Club salutes notable public servants of the Santa Monica police and fire departments and local schools.

      Mann, a former Los Angeles County deputy sheriff, was praised as “one of the most outstanding range masters I’ve ever met” by Santa Monica Police Chief James T. Butts, Jr.

      As a sheriff’s deputy, Mann received a medal of bravery for courageous actions in saving the life of his partner.

      He joined the Santa Monica Police Department in 1998 as range master.

      Furrows has been with the Santa Monica Fire Department for almost 15 years.

      Santa Monica Fire Chief Ettore Berardinelli said Furrows brought to the department “a positive attitude, wholehearted effort and a high degree of responsibility.”

      In addition to his duties as firefighter/paramedic, Furrows has been involved in a number of other activities, including restocking paramedic supplies and working as a communicable disease coordinator.

      He has educated food service workers of the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District on pathogen safety and has spoken at numerous community events.

      School superintendent Neil Schmidt praised Hart, a seventh grade humanities teacher at Lincoln Middle School, as “an individual who will create enthusiasm” in the classroom.

      Hart seeks ways to challenge students to learn and share their knowledge with others, Schmidt said.

      She assigns students to research, write and design their own web pages, which are then placed on the school’s web site.

      Hart also works with colleagues as program coordinator, mentor teacher, technology leader and a founding member of a school governance council.

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