<<go back
December 6, 2007

Calhoun Faculty and Students Honored as State's Best

Faculty and students representing Calhoun Community College were recognized among the best in the Alabama Community College system during the recent Alabama College Association’s annual conference in Birmingham, Alabama. 

Calhoun Nursing instructor Maryla Lee was honored as the System’s Academic Faculty Member of the Year.  A member of Calhoun’s Associate degree nursing faculty since 2003, Lee was also recognized as Calhoun’s top full-time faculty member during the college’s 2007 Honor’s Day convocation with the Carlton W. Kelley Teaching Excellence Award. 

Prior to coming to Calhoun, Lee spent most of her professional nursing career working for the U.S. Army.  She is a graduate of St. Vincent’s School of Nursing and received both her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in nursing from the University of Alabama – Huntsville.  She is a registered nurse in the state of Alabama and is certified as a pre-hospital provider course instructor and CPR instructor.

“Maryla has a passion and a heart for students and her love for students and the community college environment fuels her desire to motivate students to become excellent nurses,” commented Jan Peek, chair of Calhoun’s nursing department.

“I have had the opportunity to be both a student and a co-instructor with Maryla,” said J. Brett Kinzer, RN Paramedic Manager at Huntsville Hospital.  “It is a true gift when a person can take their compassion for their profession and project that into their teaching just as Maryla does,” Kinzer added.

Calhoun’s nominees in the following categories were also recognized:  Debi Garrison, Calhoun grants coordinator, nominee in the Administrator of the Year category and Mike Blizzard, Technologies division chair and machine tool technology instructor, nominee in the Technical Faculty of the Year category.

Students and faculty representing Calhoun also made a big showing during the Chancellor's Art Exhibition, conducted each year by the Alabama Department of Postsecondary Education.   Winners for the competition were announced during the ACA conference.

Calhoun student Mary Bolin won 2nd Place in the Student Photography category for her work, “Autumn Sunset.”  In the faculty competition, the following Calhoun art faculty were honored:  Louis Argend-Farlow, 1st Place, Employee Drawing, “Take Five;” Mary Nelle Black, 3rd Place Employee Painting, “Balloon Glow;”  Kathryn Vaughn, 2nd Place Employee Painting, “Choices and Changes;”  Argend-Farlow, 1st Place Employee Printmaking, “Little Walter, Harmonica Man;” and Barbara Barnett, 1st Place Employee Sculpture, “Catch Me If You Can.”

Coverage of this release:

• Calhoun faculty, students honored, The Athens News-Courier, Wednesday, January 2, 2008 issue, p. 4A
• Calhoun Faculty and Students Honored as State's Best, Speakin' Out News, Wednesday, December 26, 2007 issue, p.2
• Maryla Lee honored, WAAY TV Channel 31, Huntsville, AL, Friday, December 7, 2007, 6:00 a.m. newscast.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:

Janet Kincherlow-Martin
Director of Public Relations
(256) 306-2561

Back to Menu