SAMANTHA Scheele has been sent to the top of her class.

The Emerald Secondary College teacher was one of 10 Victorian teachers given a 2008 excellence award.

Fellow teachers Adrian Hildebrand and Andrew Batchelor also reached the finals of the awards.

Ms Scheele said it was a great honour to be recognised as often teachers’ work goes unnoticed.

The 2008 National Excellence in Teaching Awards (NeiTA) celebrated the role that inspirational teachers play in education.