On Friday, December 1, 2023, Reich College of Education’s (RCOE) Appalachian Community of Educators Scholars (ACES) celebrated 36 students who are graduating with their bachelor’s degree in either December 2023 or May 2024. Housed in the RCOE’s James Center for Student Success and Advising, ACES is a four-year scholars program for future teachers focusing on mentoring, leadership, service, and professional development.
Each of the senior ACES were recognized for their accomplishments in the program and at Appalachian State University and received the following:
- a cord bestowed by someone significant in their academic career;
- an ACES-branded padfolio to use throughout their future career;
- a certificate of completion for the ACES Program, and
- a letter that students wrote to themselves during the First Year Retreat.
Dr. Melba Spooner, dean of the RCOE, welcomed the graduates and over 140 guests to the celebration.
Senior Bryson May, a history secondary education major from Winston Salem, North Carolina, was voted on by his fellow graduates to speak. He focused his remarks on three “R’s”: relationships, responsibility, and resilience, reminding his fellow classmates that “to think of this not as an ending point but as a beginning point that will allow us to step into a world that is full of surprises and full of encouragement, and sometimes discouragement, but it's full of opportunity.”
Alumna Kari Riddle ’18, a reading specialist at Parkway School in Watauga County, reminded students that the pathway may not be what they expected it to be, but it may be what they needed.
Senior Madison Goodwin, an elementary education major from Raleigh, North Carolina, and past president of the Appalachian Educators Club, closed the ceremony, reminding students to remember their “why”.
The seniors recognized during the 2023 ceremony:
- Kathryn L. Adams - English, Secondary Education
- Kevin S. Adkins - Health and Physical Education, K-12
- Cheyenne E. Banister - Middle Grades Education, Mathematics and Science
- Jordan Lacey Barlow - English, Secondary Education
- Carson A. Blalock - Middle Grades, Language Arts and Social Studies
- Lillie Catherine Brock - Elementary Education
- Adam Caliri - Middle Grades, Language Arts and Social Studies
- Elizabeth Ann Calloway - Elementary Education.
- Bailee Collins, History, Social Studies Education
- Bailey Inez Davis - Elementary Education
- Aimee Elizabeth Eno - Elementary Education
- Katelyn Leona Marie Fowell - Elementary Education
- Madison Wade Goodwin - Elementary Education
- Aidan Coley Hefner - History, Social Studies Education
- Emily G. Hurd - Elementary Education
- Nadine Abdullah Jallal - English, Secondary Education
- Seth A. Kegley - English, Secondary Education
- Connor R. Lane - Mathematics, Secondary Education
- Audrey Lomas, Music Education
- Jason A. Macias - Mathematics, Secondary Education
- Francisco Martinez-Jimenez - Middle Grades, Mathematics and Social Studies
- Bryson C. May - History, Social Studies Education
- Chloe D. McCoy - English, Secondary Education
- Megan E. McCraw - History, Social Studies Education
- Katherine L. McDonald - Art Education, K-12
- Bianca Patterson - Elementary Education
- Rebecca Dawson Pollard - Elementary Education
- Madison Faith Puckett - Child Development, Birth Through Kindergarten Education
- Matthew Reep - History, Multidisciplinary
- Athena T. Ross - Elementary Education
- J. Renee Sharpe - Elementary Education
- Will Stephenson, English, Secondary Education
- Julie Brianne Stubbs - Spanish Education
- Laura N. Tellez-Elias - English, Literary Studies
- Diana Vences Morales - Elementary Education
- Alec C. Via - Mathematics, Secondary Education
- Brady Harrison Warlow - Theatre Arts, Theatre Education
- Savannah L. Wilson - Special Education, Adapted Curriculum
- Mackenzie May Wyman - English, Secondary Education
ACES Senior Ceremony
