Spring 2005

Volume 8 Number 2
A publication of Macon State College

Rebecca Ann Reynolds, Warner Robins

Ann Reynolds stumbled upon a second career.

For years she was a mortgage loan officer, then two summers ago “a friend of a friend” asked Reynolds and her 21-year-old son Travis to work with the Houston County school system's Summer Enhancement Program for gifted fourth-, fifth- and sixth-graders.

“That first summer, I played piano for the choral group, and this past summer I taught a class in mosaics,” Reynolds said. “I loved it! My son told me now that he was out of college, it was time for me to go back to college and become a teacher.”

She worried that she was too old and had been out of the classroom too long, but her son convinced her that she would make an ideal student and, ultimately, an ideal teacher. So she enrolled at Macon State College and declared education as her major.

Her initial plan was to get an associate degree and transfer, but then she heard the good news - Macon State will introduce a bachelor's degree in education in Fall 2005.

“This is like an answer to a prayer,” said Reynolds, a native of Cochran and 1974 graduate of Cochran High School “I was dreading a commute and/or having to pay the higher cost at a private college.”

Reynolds and her husband moved to Warner Robins in 2002 when he retired from the Air Force after 30 years of service. “We decided to move back to Georgia to be closer to our families,” she said.

Because education courses will be offered at both the Macon and Warner Robins campuses, Reynolds hopes to complete most of her course work at the Warner Robins Campus where she currently attends classes.

“With my classes being here at the Warner Robins Campus, plus the affordable tuition, I will be able to turn my dream of becoming a teacher into a reality,” Reynolds said. She's convinced that returning to college to prepare for a second career was a smart choice.

“Even though it's taken 30 years to get to this point, I feel maybe my age of 48 has certain advantages,” she said. “I've worked for over 25 years in jobs that were nice, but I was never really passionate about them. I've been able to travel thanks to the U.S. Air Force, and I've raised a family.”

Now she's looking forward to the day she steps into her own classroom.

“I hope that one day a child will say that I helped him find his true passion, that he is in a career that he loves and that he stayed in school and finished college because I made him realize just how important a college degree would be to him and to his future.”

Ashley Patterson, Macon

Currently, 22-year-old Ashley Patterson is a pharmacy technician at a local super market. She likes her job, but she's always believed that she belongs in a classroom - teaching.

When she enrolled in college several years ago, Patterson was a pharmacy major “but that was for my family, not me,” she said. “I decided to do what I have always wanted to do and that is to teach.”

So she changed her major to education. She expects to complete her studies this spring then return in the fall to pursue the bachelor of science in education.

“I would love to teach the fifth grade, and I also would be interested in the fourth grade,” said the New York native who moved to Macon 12 years ago.

A graduate of Windsor Academy, Patterson said she decided to enroll at MSC “because it is close to home, and I feel comfortable in a smaller school environment. I've really enjoyed all of my education classes and each and every professor I've had in those classes."

Patterson lives in Macon, works in Kathleen and attends classes at the Macon and Warner Robins campuses. “Macon State offering the bachelor's degree program will make life so much easier on me. I will be able to live at home and keep my job,” she said.

A lesson she hopes to share with her future students is one she has learned herself. “The one thing I would like for my future students to learn from me is that no matter what happens, you are always you no matter what another person might say to you,” Patterson said. “You only have to be true to yourself and follow your own dreams, not those of the people who surround you.”

Nicole Stover, Bonaire

Nicole Stover is going to continue a family tradition started by her maternal grandparents. She is going to teach, and, if she's like her parents and grandparents, she will be teaching for many years to come.

“I have not always wanted to be a teacher,” said Stover, who remembers her parents arriving home somewhat weary at the end of a school day. “However, after owning my own day care for five years and receiving a lot of training in early education through the Air Force, I learned that teaching comes very natural for me. I am sure it has a lot to do with my upbringing.”

Stover's grandfather taught high school math and coached for 40 years, her grandmother was an educator for 30 years, and her father, a high school math teacher in Floyd County, Indiana, for 33 years, also coached and taught home-bound children.

Then, there's Stover mother, who has worked with pre-schoolers through third-graders during her three decades in the classroom. She is Stover's inspiration.

“My mother has taught me that there truly is no child who should be left behind,” Stover said. “I remember her taking my dolls to the underprivileged to play with. I remember picking up some of those children on the weekends for a play date or church.

“Teaching goes beyond the classroom for her. I hope I can provide an environment for the students in my class that mirrors the environment my mother created. It was always a loving, nurturing place to learn.”

A native of Kentucky, Stover moved to Indiana when she was a high school freshman. She arrived in Central Georgia last year when her husband was stationed at Robins Air Force Base.

During the day, she is a paraprofessional at Bonaire Elementary School in Houston County. She also is a full-time evening student at Macon State College.

“The fact that Macon State is offering this new bachelor's degree could not have come at a better time for me,” Stover said. “I was going to have to travel to do my (bachelor's degree) course work. Besides, the tuition here is great, and the evening classes are nice for people seeking degrees and working full time.”

Kristen Williams, Gray

Kristen Williams believes the Lord works in mysterious ways. It was never her intent to become an educator. In fact, she hails from a family of health care workers and law enforcement officers, “so I automatically felt obliged to stay with tradition,” she said.

A 2000 graduate of Jones County High School, Williams enrolled in Macon State's respiratory therapy program. Then, she explained, fate took her in another direction.

She already was balancing college classes and a job at a community golf course near her home in Gray when she learned about an opportunity to do some substitute teaching at Califf Middle School in Jones County to supplement her income.

“I fell in love instantly with teaching,” Williams said. “I felt like I had found my niche. I connected with the students. I began to question what my future might hold, so for a few more months, I evaluated my experience and asked for guidance from a higher authority, and that's when I realized that I wanted to be a teacher.”

Since working in the education field, Williams, the mother of a 7-year-old, said she has become more aware of the shortage of teachers.

“I want to make a difference, and I think teaching children will give me that chance. I think the reward of teaching will be knowing that I taught something to these children that they will carry with them for the rest of their lives,” Williams said.

About the time she made up her mind to change her major from health care to education, Williams learned that Macon State was developing a bachelor of science degree program in education.

“I originally enrolled at Macon State College because it's close to home,” Williams said. “With the new education degree, I don't have to worry about transferring and traveling to another college. I am proud to be a student of MSC, and I would love to be one of the first to graduate from this college with this new degree.”

Gerry Plant, Fort Valley

Gerry Plant has installed heating systems and air conditioners at his father's business, and he's worked as an athletic trainer for a college track and field team. But he's always wanted to teach.

This fall he will pursue that dream. He anticipates being a member of the charter class of early childhood education majors at Macon State College.

“I love kids. I love being around them,” said the 23-year-old Fort Valley resident. “I've had other jobs. Since I was a kid, I've worked with my dad, installing heating and cooling systems, but I've always wanted to be a teacher and serve as a role model for children. I want to help them learn how to lead successful lives.”

Macon State will be offering education classes at the Macon and Warner Robins campuses, which, Plant said, will fit his schedule while he earns the bachelor of science in education.

“I'm very excited about this new degree and the fact that it's affordable and accessible for me” he said.

Shawonda Durham, Jeffersonville

At the age of 6, Shawonda Durham knew she wanted to be a teacher when she grew up. She never changed her mind.

Now, she's very close to that goal. This spring she completes her two-year studies, and in the fall, she hopes to start work on Macon State's new bachelor of science in education.

“Earlier this year when I got that email on the student listserv announcing the 4-year education degree, I was so very, very happy,” said Durham, who is expecting her second child in August. “I was afraid I was going to have to transfer to get my bachelor's degree, and I knew that with two young children to care for, a longer commute to school wasn't going to be possible for me.”

Durham, who lives in Jeffersonville, wants to stay in Twiggs County and teach. She has been a math tutor through Macon State's Minority Student Achievement Program, and she has volunteered at the Twiggs County Comprehensive Middle/High School, her alma mater.

“I've just always wanted to be a teacher,” said Durham, who credits her first-grade teacher, Dianna Goldsby, for serving as her role model. “Ms. Goldsby was caring. She acted like we were her children. She always had time for us.“

She's still teaching at Jeffersonville Elementary School, and I often see her when I take my daughter to school. She remains such an inspiration to me. I hope that, like Ms. Goldsby, my students remember me 20 years from now.”

Uvanda Thomas, Warner Robins

Macon State sophomore Uvanda Thomas will complete an associate of science degree in education this summer, then she'll return to the college in the fall to join the charter class of early childhood education majors.

This has been her lifelong dream.

“I have wanted to be a teacher ever since I was 10,” Thomas said. “My goals changed when I had my son. I became a stay-at-home mom for a few years, then I decided to work in banking.”

A native Texan, Thomas said her Air Force family relocated a lot while she was growing up. She graduated from Alexandria Senior High School in Alexandria, La., in 1984 and later married into the military.

When her family was living in Germany where her husband was stationed, Thomas said she got involved in her son's school, “and I really enjoyed it. When we returned to the states, it was my dream to pursue my goal of becoming a teacher.”

Later, her family moved to Maryland where she worked as a teacher's aide at a local school, an experience that strengthened her commitment to earn an education degree.

She arrived in Central Georgia in 2003 when her husband was transferred to Robins Air Force Base. Although she is a full-time student at Macon State College, she still makes time to do volunteer work at Linwood Elementary School in Warner Robins.

To her, the college's new four-year degree in education is “a blessing” because it puts her goal within reach, financially and physically. And with that goal accomplished, she can focus on her next, which is “to become an outstanding teacher, someone my students can look to for encouragement and direction.”

Jessie Michie, Macon

Jessie Michie remembers tagging along to her mother's business classes when she taught at Macon State College.

“My mom used to teach here years ago, and I would go with her to class,” said Michie, who is now a sophomore at Macon State College. “I loved to write on the chalk board, and I loved being around the students.”

Michie's mother, Carol Fouraker, is one of the reasons she wants to be a teacher. “She always pushed me to do my best,” Michie said. “She was always there for me when I needed help with homework or a school project or if I just needed some advice.”

A 2000 graduate of First Presbyterian Day School, Michie is an assistant teacher at Ingleside Baptist Preschool. She attends evening classes at Macon State. Her ambition is to earn a bachelor of science degree in education from MSC and become an elementary school teacher in Central Georgia.

Selecting education as a major was an easy decision for Michie.

“I love children. I love working with them,” she said. “I want to be a teacher. The one thing I hope to teach children is that no matter what their dreams are, if they believe in them, those dreams will come true.”

She enrolled at Macon State because she wanted to stay home and continue to work, “plus the tuition is affordable,” said Michie. For her, the college's new bachelor's degree in education is icing on the cake.

Jennifer Colquitt, Macon

Jennifer Colquitt is a 22-year-old newlywed, who attends Macon State College part time and works in retail sales full time. She believes that “teachers make a difference,” and that's why she wants to be one.

“I want to become a teacher because I love children, and I think it is important for all of us to make sure that all children get a proper education,” Colquitt said. “I want to be a teacher because I want to make a difference in the lives of children.”

Like many education majors, Colquitt was thrilled to learn about the college's baccalaureate degree in education.

“It's tough sometimes working full time, keeping a house and trying to go to school,” she said, “but I love school, and I am determined to graduate. I was so glad to learn about Macon State's four-year education degree because being able to stay here is so much more convenient and affordable for me.”

Holly Markert, Macon

As a mother of three, Holly Markert has witnessed the dedication of teachers and the struggles of public school systems to find and keep those educators.

“I have three boys, and one of them has autism,” Markert said. “I have always been involved in my children's schools, and I had to be trained to work with my son who is autistic. He is 12 now, and I have had many years being around the education system. In that time, I have developed a passion for learning, teaching and helping all children, especially those with disabilities.”

A native of Albany, Ga., Markert moved with her family to Macon in 1999. She already has an associate degree from Darton College and has spent the past 16 years as a medical lab technician.

She enrolled at Macon State College last fall and has anxiously followed the development of the college's new bachelor of science in education. She has wanted to be a teacher for about 12 years, and she said MSC is making it easier for her to earn a second degree and make that career change. With a family and a job, Markert said traveling to another college is not an option.

Her sons' teachers over the years have been an inspiration, just as her biology and chemistry teacher, Mrs. Joiner, was back in Markert's high school years. “She is the reason that I became a lab tech,” Markert said. “She was incredible. She made learning fun.”

That's what Markert hopes to do.

Kennya Santana, Warner Robins

Macon State College sophomore Kennya Santana is still a few years away from having her own classroom, but she already knows what important lessons she wants to teach her young students.

“I want each of my students to learn that it is always important to do your best, to always be yourself and to live your life to the fullest,” said Santana, a Los Angeles native who moved to Central Georgia with her family several years ago.

While completing her education degree, Santana, who is fluent in Spanish, volunteers at Linwood Elementary School in Warner Robins, working with children for whom English is a second language. In fact, she wants to be an ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) teacher. “I love kids,” she said.

“I think they are so interesting. They are honest and real.”

A 2003 graduate of Northside High School in Warner Robins, Santana enrolled at Macon State two years ago. She is a full-time student attending classes at the Warner Robins Campus.

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