ROCK HILL, SOUTH CAROLINA - Winthrop University awarded a biology major and three education majors the President’s Award for Academic Excellence during the May 6 Commencement ceremonies. The award is given to the students who have the highest GPA for the graduating class.
In the morning ceremony, Joel Haley of Chester, South Carolina, was called to the stage to receive his award from President Edward Serna ‘02. The biology major was involved in the SEA-PHAGES research program, has worked with a local family physician and underserved communities in Guatemala.
Haley, who applied to several medical schools and was accepted at each one, will attend the University of South Carolina School of Medicine to learn about rural health care. His desire is to become a family physician.
In the afternoon ceremony, three education majors joined Serna on the stage:
*Anna Palmer, an early childhood education major from West Columbia, South Carolina, was a Palmetto Fellow, a Garnet Scholar and a South Carolina Teaching Fellow. She served as a First Year Experience Peer Mentor, an Academic Success Center peer tutor and as a student marshal. Palmer completed her internship in a second-grade classroom at Independence Elementary in Rock Hill and has already secured a job teaching in Lexington School District I in the fall. She loves working with children and wants to make a difference, one child at a time.
*Emily Patterson, an elementary education major from Greenville, South Carolina, pursued honor courses while at Winthrop. She also was selected to be a First Year Experience Peer Mentor and was invited to join the National Society of Collegiate Scholars. Patterson has been accepted into Clemson University’s graduate program for a master’s degree in literacy with a concentration in ESOL, or English for speakers of other languages. She loves working with ESOL students from different cultures.
*Elyse Petty, an early childhood education major from Rock Hill, served as president of the Winthrop Chapter of the S.C. Association for the Education of Young Children, was a member of the Alpha Delta Pi sorority, Pi Kappa Phi Honor Society and the prestigious Teaching Fellows program. Petty has worked as assistant director for the Showtime Theatre Company in Rock Hill for the past seven years. She was selected to participate in the ASPIRE program in which high performing undergraduate teaching candidates assume full-time classroom teaching roles to address the recruitment and retention of teachers within South Carolina. She plans to attend graduate school and then teach while giving kids a safe place to learn.
For more information, contact Judy Longshaw, news and media services manager, at 803/323-2404 or e-mail her at longshawj@winthrop.edu.
