February 2023

Nominations are now open for the 2023 College of Education and Professional Studies Alumni Hall of Fame. Nominees must be a graduate of a Jacksonville State University College of Education and Professional Studies program area. Those include:

Elementary Education/Early Childhood Education

Secondary Education

Physical Education

Special Education

Reading Education

Family & Consumer Sciences

Dietetics

Fashion Merchandising

Hospitality & Culinary

Music Education

Business Education

Clinical Mental Health Counseling

School Counseling

Instructional Technology

Library Media

Instructional Leadership

Child Development

Merchandising

Human Sciences

Community Nutrition

Nominees must have at least five years of experience in the program area in which they are nominated. Nominees should exhibit excellence in the field and contributions to the field through community service, innovative applications, and dedication to those they serve. Examples of those activities should be included in the nomination.

Alumni Hall of Fame - College of Education and Professional Studies (jsu.edu)

Nominations will be accepted through March 1, 2023.

Early Childhood Block welcomed Denise Dasinger, Etowah County Schools Preschool Coordinator and Stephanie Williams, Ed.S, Alabama Department of Early Childhood Education, to campus today! These ladies shared information on an Inclusive Preschool, Applied Behavior Analysis Program and Alabama 1st Class PreK Programs.

We appreciate their dedication to training our teacher candidates!

Instructional Leadership faculty member Dr. Stacey Gill serves as the Black Student Union's advisor.

The purpose of Black Student Union is to encourage unity among African American students, encourage students to participate in all aspects of campus life, and to serve as a representative for minority students to the University’s governing body. We want to serve as a liaison between the African American student body and administration in efforts to uphold the values stated in JSU’s mission and core values. The Black Student Union hosts monthly events for students on campus. The Black Student Union will strive to Challenge, Create, and Change what we want to see here on the campus of Jacksonville State University.

The executive board for BSU consists of the following Indviduals:

President- Hakeem Bennett

Vice President- Aravia Taylor

Director of Marketing and communications- Tierra Thatch

Director of Programs- Iyana Little

Treasurer- Daniel Washington

Secretary- Khyra Colton

Parliamentarian- Amaya Jones

Hannah recently won Best Poster, Undergraduate, at the 2023 JSU Student Symposium.

If I had been asked my senior year of high school where I pictured myself in five years, I would have told you that I would be living in Nashville, TN, working at HarperCollins Publishers in their Christian publishing branch. I have always had a love for reading and writing and knew that I wanted those pieces of myself to be a part of my future career, but I didn’t realize how vastly the Lord would work in my life and change my heart over the course of five years. I began my college career at Northeast Alabama Community College, and because of my experience at NACC, I gained valuable relationships with people who encouraged me to chase after everything I wanted out of life. In 2020, I transferred to Jacksonville State University. After a summer of prayer, I had decided that moving to Nashville, TN was too far away for a small-town girl who wanted to be close to family, and I knew in my heart that teaching was a calling that I had been ignoring for a long time. Thus, I changed my major and truly began the chase for those dreams. Once I met my teachers, built lifelong friendships, and gained experience in the high school classroom, I knew the passion and peace I felt could no longer be denied, and my fate was sealed. I was going to be an English teacher. Thanks to my family, NACC’s faculty, and JSU’s faculty, I truly discovered what I wanted out of life, and the breath of relief that accompanies that discovery cannot be surpassed.

Recently, I decided to register for the JSU Symposium, which was a wonderful opportunity to represent the Secondary Education Department. The project I presented was the data I had collected from my Impact Study the previous fall. I presented my data from my learning segment on Elegiac Writing. During this segment, I taught the students how to write an elegy over the course of three days. The students had just recently finished reading the play The Crucible and making connections with John Proctor, the main character that dies at the end of the story (I apologize for any spoilers). His death was rather controversial, and I knew this was not the outcome the students were hoping for, so I decided we were going to have a funeral for John Proctor. I began my pre-assessment by assigning the students a four-line elegy on a topic such as a hole in their favorite pair of jeans or a melted popsicle. The students were to meet the same three standards for the pre- and post-assessment, which was a ten-line elegy about John Proctor. By the end of this assignment, I was able to assess my students progress from the assessments and gather how well they grasped the content. I chose three focus students out of the twenty-three in the class and compared the whole-class to the individual charts. Overall, my data proved my lesson to be successful, but one of my focus students only met one of the three standards in the post-assessment. Much of my presentation discussed my focus on how to further increase his learning in future lessons and to reflect on the areas of my instruction that he struggled in the most.

Dr. Mitchell is from Gadsden, Alabama and graduated from Litchfield High School in 1980.

In 1991 she earned a B.S. in History and English Secondary Education from Jacksonville State University and in 2000 she earned a M.S. in Secondary History Education with a Technology Endorsement from JSU. In 2006, she earned her Ph.D. from Auburn University in Secondary History Education.

Dr. Mitchell began her teaching career in Birmingham City Schools in 1992 and in 1998 moved to Anniston City Schools where she taught until 2003. After graduating from Auburn Univ., she taught for a year at Augusta State University in Augusta, GA and then returned home to teach at Jacksonville State University. In 2020, Dr. Mitchell was promoted to full professor and is currently serving as the Interim Department Head for the Secondary Education Department.

Dr. Mitchell has three grown children, six grandchildren – including Lily who many of you have met and is currently awaiting the first great-grandson in May. She shares her home with Lily, several dogs and cats, and about 22 chickens.