Initiated in 2009, this award is given annually to students finishing the fifth grade at Simonds Elementary School, who have demonstrated over their time in the school what it means to be a good citizen, a good friend, and show compassion toward others through acts of kindness and thoughtfulness, with no expectation of reward or recognition. This was how Jim Mitchell lived his life, setting the example for all of us of working together to make wonderful things happen for others. Each student receives a commemorative edition of To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, and their names are engraved on a perpetual plaque displayed in Simonds Elementary School’s Jim Mitchell Library to recognize their achievements in caring about and for others, Simonds Elementary School’s own “Local Heroes.”