COEUR d'ALENE - When Ellen Jaeger's husband, Jerry, received a phone call saying Ellen had won the 2011 Coeur d'Alene Alumna of the Year Award from Lewis-Clark State College, he decided to play it safe.

He told her all about it.

"They were going to surprise me," Ellen recalled. "They gave my husband the option, and he knew I don't like surprises. He knows me well enough."

One week later, duly informed, Jaeger walked onto the stage at North Idaho College's Boswell Hall during the Lewis-Clark State (Coeur d'Alene campus) commencement ceremony on Sunday. Don Montgomery, LCSC alumni president, handed her a handsome plaque with her name etched on the front.

"I was very honored and humbled," Jaeger said. "And I also felt there were so many other people deserving of this award."

Montgomery had introduced Jaeger before she took the stage, lauding her work in the Coeur d'Alene community, as well as her impressive list of academic accomplishments.

The packed auditorium - graduates, parents and faculty - clapped loudly as the Coeur d'Alene native received her Alumna of the Year award.

"Very exciting," she said. "I'm very proud of all the graduates. Lewis-Clark has grown so much since I've graduated."

That was in 1995, when Jaeger received an LCSC undergraduate business degree. She went on to the University of Idaho, where she earned a master's degree in counseling and human services, a master's specialist degree in school psychology and a doctorate in counseling and human services.

Jaeger said her time at LCSC prepared her well for the academic challenges to come. When Jerry had left for Washington State University, she was unable to complete her work at LCSC, she remembered.

But that didn't matter - Jaeger returned to Coeur d'Alene and finished her degree, with guidance from some first-rate instructors.

"The professors were so supportive and helpful," she said. "The individual attention was incredible."

Putting her education to good use, Jaeger currently works as a licensed psychologist at Innercept Academy in Coeur d'Alene. She also holds hospital privileges at Kootenai Medical Center.