SALISBURY — During the latest Rowan-Cabarrus Community College Board of Trustees meeting, multiple students and faculty members were recognized for their accomplishments.

RCCC students Tyler Goodman and Victor Turner were recognized for receiving $12,000 in scholarship funding through the Gene Haas Foundation.

“(Haas) scholarships have typically funded the full cost attendance for the selected recipients,” said Zackary Hubbard, the RCCC Dean of Technical Programs. “We want to thank (Haas) so much for continuing to support our program.”

Work-based learning

The North Carolina Work-Based Learning Association named Aleah Abernathy the Williams D. Weston Outstanding Student of the Year. Abernathy studied mechanical engineering at RCCC. She expressed gratitude to her parents for making her career trajectory possible.

“Both of my parents worked really hard to get me to where I am today,” Abernathy said. “I am really thankful for my mom. She worked hard to be where she is today. Even though we went a different route, she was always there for me.”

RCCC’s work-based learning coordinator, Hanif Miller, added, “Work-based learning is a catalyst to help students get to that next level.”

For its partnership with the work-based learning component at RCCC, the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame was recognized as Employer of the Year. The hall of fame’s executive director Veronica Cordle was at the meeting to accept the award. Miller shared Cordle’s story. She began as an intern and worked her way up to an administrative position, where she could start taking on her own interns. “It’s a great example of a full-circle story,” Miller said.

Design recognition

Designs by two RCCC students were selected to be used at the North Carolina Community College System 2022 Conference.

Khettie Chanthaheuang and Bethany Moore each designed templates that were used in promotional material at the conference. Both Chanthaheuang and Moore explained the inspiration behind their designs.

“I really liked how jovial the photo was and how celebratory it appeared,” Chanthaheuang said of her image selection. “Everything else I took inspiration from past submissions and aimed to keep in theme with what NCC was about.”

Moore’s design featured a lightbulb in a graduation cap in front of the outline of North Carolina.

“I wanted to keep in mind future generations, so that’s why I picked the graduation cap,” Moore said. “The light bulb is supposed to represent ideas. Each student represents ideas, and the idea is that they are going to graduate and be a doctor or a businessman.”

The student’s instructor, Ryland Perry, indicated that he was not surprised they were chosen.

“I am very proud of them,” Perry said. “They just came out of a class where we learned about brand identities and how to follow a brand guide. So this was a great exercise for them to put that into practice.”

Catawba Alumni Award

Catawba College alum Sarah Devlin is the Chief Officer of Governance, Advancement and Community Relations for RCCC.

Catawba recognized her with this year’s Young Alumni Award for her professional success.

“It has been my pleasure to work with Sarah (Devlin),” RCCC President Dr. Carol Spalding said. “She has her hands on everything. She’s got skills we don’t even know she has.”