CNN anchor Kyra Phillips will join Channel 4 San Diego’s Dennis Morgigno as co-hosts of the 17th annual “Cox Presents: A Salute to Teachers” at 7 p.m. Oct. 6. The event will be broadcast from the Civic Theatre in downtown San Diego.

The Academy Awards-style TV special honors the county’s 26,000 public-school teachers, culminating with the announcement of the San Diego County Teachers of the Year.

The presentation is produced in cooperation with the San Diego County Office of Education. It will air live on Channel 4, in high definition on Cox Channel 704 and on ITV Channel 16 on Cox and Time Warner Cable.

Phillips anchors the afternoon edition of “CNN Newsroom” with Don Lemon each weekday from the network’s headquarters in Atlanta. Having reported on a wide range of breaking news from the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to Hurricane Katrina, Phillips most recently completed a six-month assignment from CNN’s Baghdad bureau, where she reported on Iraqi life, including students who risk their lives every day to attend school.

— Connie Lewis