Four individuals and one organization were the recipients of this year’s Razor Walker Awards, bestowed annually by the Watson College of Education at University of North Carolina Wilmington. The awards are made to individuals and entities whose “vision, tenacity, courage and sacrifice have made a difference in the lives of young people,” according to a news release.

Recipients are June Atkinson, state superintendent of the Public Schools of North Carolina; Hannah Gage, Wilmington businesswoman and a former member of the University of North Carolina Board of Governors; Clifford Barnett Sr., pastor of the Warner Temple AME Zion Church in Wilmngton; and Wanda Marino, assistant director at New Hanover County Department of Social Services.

Communities in Schools of the Cape Fear also received the award.

The recipients were honored for their advocacy for education and underserved youth across the state, the release stated.

“In this year’s honorees, we see ... service in extraordinary ways from local communities and schools to their impact on policy and the quality of education for North Carolina as a state. Across that spectrum, the work of this year’s recipients speaks to, informs and makes better the work of people everywhere who ‘walk the razor’s edge,’” Watson College dean Van Dempsey said in the release.