����vlog���� senior Luke Proctor didn’t just get a job offer—he got it in a moment he’ll never forget. Sitting in the stands in mid-March at the Arkansas High School Girls Basketball Class 5A State Championship game in Hot Springs, cheering on his hometown Mountain Home team, Proctor’s phone rang with the news he had been waiting for. On the other end was a Mountain Home High School administrator, calling to tell him the school board had approved his hiring.

Proctor, who will graduate in May, is returning home this summer as a teacher-coach at his high school alma mater, where he will teach special education and coach basketball.

“It was an amazing feeling knowing I will get to go back home, and it was super cool to hear it while watching the school play in a state championship game,” Proctor said. “It was such a great feeling and sense of relief to know where I am headed before I even graduate. I am extremely blessed and thankful for this opportunity.”

A former Ozarks basketball player, Proctor is earning a degree in business technology education. Over the past year, he has gained hands-on experience through an internship at Clarksville High School, working under mentor teacher and Ozarks alumna Kristie Frost ’96.

“My student internship has been an amazing experience; I could not have asked for a better mentor teacher than Mrs. Frost,” Proctor said. “The experience has shown me what the day-to-day life of a teacher actually looks like, beyond just lesson planning. The most surprising thing has probably been how much relationship-building matters. If students trust and respect you, everything else becomes easier.”

That experience also revealed strengths he didn’t fully recognize in himself.

“I’ve learned that I’m more patient and adaptable than I thought,” he said. “Not every lesson goes as planned, but being able to adjust and keep things moving has been a big area of growth for me.”

For Proctor, the most rewarding part of teaching comes in the small, everyday moments.

“Seeing their confidence grow through the year reminds me why I wanted to teach in the first place,” he said. “It showed me that even small wins can have a big impact.”

A career in education, he said, felt like a natural fit from the start.

“I’ve always loved being around sports and working with students,” he said. “Growing up, my coaches had a huge impact on me—not just in athletics, but in how I carried myself and handled adversity. I want to be that same kind of role model for kids. Teaching gives me the opportunity to make a difference in the classroom, and coaching allows me to build relationships and teach life lessons outside of it. I want to be someone that my students and players can count on being there for them and being consistent.”

One of his most impactful classes at Ozarks was theories of athletic coaching with Dr. Sergio Molina.

“This class gave me the opportunity to plan full projects, such as a fully functioning fundraiser with budget sheets and research on basketball development within young athletes,” he said. “It also taught me the best way to handle certain situations.”

Proctor also credited the Pat Walker Teacher Education Program for preparing him for the classroom.

“We’ve had opportunities to practice classroom management, lesson planning, and working with diverse learners,” he added. “I feel more confident going into my own classroom because I’ve already been in that environment and know what to expect.”

His path to education wasn’t always linear. Between his sophomore and junior years, Proctor made the decision to switch his major from business management to business technology education—a move that required careful planning and guidance. He credits NaLisa Brown, assistant professor of marketing, in helping him navigate the change.

“She really took the time to really help me achieve my goals,” he said. This was not a small task. Being the only business technology education major within the last few years took a lot of planning and preparation to make happen. I cannot thank her enough.”

Looking back, Proctor describes his time at Ozarks as a period of meaningful growth.

“I’ve learned a lot about myself, built strong relationships, and gained the experience I need to move into my career,” he said. “I have met some of my best friends, been paired with an amazing mentor teacher, got to know all of my Ozarks professors, played basketball at the collegiate level for four years, and really got involved in the community. It has been a challenging but rewarding journey that’s prepared me for what’s next.”

The post Answering the Call: Proctor Heads Home to Lead and Teach appeared first on ����vlog����.

Jordan Price, Ed.S., has joined the ����vlog���� faculty as assistant professor of education and director of teacher education and field experience.

Price has served as assistant superintendent and athletic director of Ozark (Ark.) High School since 2021. He has nearly 20 years of experience in K-12 public education and 15 years of experience in public school administration.

A native of Johnson County and a 2002 graduate of Clarksville High School, Price has been a teacher and coach at Lamar (Ark.) High School; a principal at Hector (Ark.) High School; and a principal, assistant superintendent and athletic director at Ozark.

“I’m excited about the opportunity to join the University and to play a role in helping prepare our future classroom teachers for careers in education,” Price said. “I’m ready to use my background and experience to work with local school districts, collaborate with faculty and students and assess student-learning efforts to place our teacher education students in the best possible position for success when they graduate.” 

Price earned a specialist degree in educational administration from Henderson State University, a master of education in educational administration from Harding University and a bachelor’s degree in middle level education from Arkansas Tech University.

Price has also served on the U of O Teacher Education Advisory Council (TEAC) since 2016. 

“I’ve been in the position over the years where I’ve interviewed many new teacher education graduates for jobs and U of O has consistently had some of the highest quality teacher education graduates that I’ve seen,” Price said. “I’ve also seen the quality of the teacher education program as a member of the University’s advisory council. This has given me invaluable insight into the teacher education program and its growth and success.”

Price and his wife, Jaime, have three children — Grasen, Bayler and Hadley. In his free time he enjoys golf, fishing, sports and growing muscadines, fruit trees, and gardening.

The post Price Named Director of Teacher Education and Field Experiences appeared first on ����vlog����.

����vlog���� senior history major Tanner Russell is making some history of his own this spring when he graduates with the University’s first social studies teaching licensure.

Russell, who was named the 2025 Outstanding Student in Secondary Education this week at Honors Day, is graduating on May 17 with Magna Cum Laude honors.  

When the University added a social studies licensure option in 2023, Russell was one of the first to sign up.

“Ozarks did not have social studies licensure as an option when I first arrived on campus, so I didn’t know if I would have to go through an alternative licensure process,” he said. “I had talked to Mrs. [Pam] Smith, director of teacher education, who said that it was a possibility. I knew that I wanted to pursue it because of the impact that my social studies teacher in high school had on me. I felt that teaching social studies was my vocation and calling, so I had to pursue it. Whenever the licensure opportunity became available my junior year, I had to switch my catalogue year. I had to work with a lot of people to get everything right. The University staff and faculty helped me tremendously through this process. It was a long process, but it was very much worth it.”

A native of Ozark, Ark., Russell said he feels proud to be the first U of O graduate to obtain the social studies licensure.

“It feels great knowing that I helped a new group of people that want to go into this profession,” he said. “The state of Arkansas and the world needs great educators, and especially social studies educators. It’s awesome meeting more and more students that are choosing this path that I helped to pave. I like knowing that I had a small part in people being able to follow their vocation and calling.”

Russell, who plans to marry his fiance Annie Sampley next summer, spent the past year student-teaching at Clarksville High School, an experience that confirmed his desire to go into the teaching and coaching profession.

“It has been absolute blast,” Russell said. “I have been having so much fun. In order to do this, you have to love it. I love hanging around the kids and joking with them, but I also love teaching and working with them. It is so fun to teach them the information that I find so valuable. I get to learn about the ins and outs of being an educator. I have learned that relationships are the most important thing about being an educator. You need relationships to teach the students.”

Russell said the full-year internship has been a valuable learning experience as he prepares to take on his own classroom in the near future.

“As I’ve gone through my internship, I have learned that the more students are able to open up and trust me, the more they learn,” he said. “Positive relationships help you work with the other teachers as well. Teachers rely on each other so much. Mr. Walker, my cooperating teacher, and other teachers/coaches have helped me so much throughout my internship at Clarksville High School. If you are having trouble with a situation, then there’s a veteran teacher that has probably gone through that same thing.”

Through his internship experience, Russell said he learned that teaching is much more than just making sure the students learn the subject.

“It’s about being a person that they can trust, when many students might not have that person,” he said. “It’s the relationships you build with students that they’ll remember for the rest of their lives. It’s being a positive role model when they might not have one. Through my internship, I have heard many positive stories from other teachers about how they have impacted others. I’ve learned that being the positive in a world of negative goes a long way.”

One classroom moment that stands out is when Russell let a student take over and quiz the class while Russell sat down at a desk and pretended to be a student.

“He began asking questions and the entire class was into it; they were answering questions right and left, and whenever the class noticed me acting like I was sleeping they all pointed it out,” Russell said. “The student that was asking questions then went over and told me to wake up exactly how a teacher would, and I responded like how a student would and the entire class laughed. Whenever you can get high school students out of their shell it is really fun. It was fun for them to see roles switched, and I really got to see a lot of their personalities.”

Russell comes from a family of educators. His grandmother was a 5^th grade teacher in Clarksville and his grandfather was a high school baseball coach and social studies teacher at Scranton.

“I do not remember much of my grandfather, but I have always been told stories about him by people he impacted through his teaching,” Russell said. “I meet people in all sorts of places that mention how he impacted them. I knew my grandmother more. When she passed, I remember her funeral even though I was young. That Southern Baptist Church was absolutely packed. People were standing outside the sanctuary because it was overflowing. I have been told that my grandfather’s funeral was the same. I know that the Lord showed me these experiences to realize how many people they impacted through their careers. Losing my grandparents was difficult. I did not know them for as long as other people, but I had, and have, a special bond with them. Their lives impacted so many people. If I can touch even a fraction of the lives they touched, I will have succeeded as an educator.”

Russell said he has always had a love for history and that a high school teacher helped fuel that passion.

“I am not quite sure where my love for history started, but even when I was young I watched historical movies and cartoons,” he said. “However, I had a great social studies teacher in high school that helped me realize that I wanted to do something in the history field. I had an interest, but Mrs. Dawa helped me to realize how much I loved it. Then throughout my college career, I learned that history is not just facts about the past. History is our story, and how we as a human race have gotten to where we are at today. Whether good or bad, all the occurrences throughout history have formed the world into its current state. People often ask why is history so important. That is my answer. History is the story of us. How am I, Tanner Russell, at the ����vlog���� in the year 2025 CE? Because events happened to lead me to where I am today. History occurred to bring everything together to this moment in time, and continues to work long after we’re gone.”

With the help of the Pat Walker Teacher Education Program, Russell said he’s ready and excited to begin his teaching career.

“They have prepared me by helping me to be over-prepared and over-professional,” he said. “In order to get a job, they know that I have to be the best prepared candidate. Not only that, but they were there whenever I needed them. They never failed to be there for me whenever I had a question or just wanted to talk. It is easy to see that every person in the Walker Teacher Education Program cares about the students and wants us to succeed. I have had many conversations with professors in the department about not just school work, but life problems that I might be going through. Also, in many schools students do not graduate with their licensure, but at the U of O they do. Without the staff helping us through that, it would be a super confusing and difficult amount of tests, paperwork, professional development, background checks, etc.”

“Ozarks has helped me to grow into a new person. Through the people I’ve met and the challenges it has given me, Ozarks has changed me for the better. At Ozarks, you can tell that people care. Nowhere else is the same. It is truly one of a kind, and you can sense that as soon as you step on campus. Professors know me by name and each one has made me feel special in some way. You’re just not going to get that anywhere else.”

The post Russell Makes History with First Social Studies Licensure appeared first on ����vlog����.

����vlog���� honored several of its students from the Pat Walker Teacher Education Program with a pinning ceremony on May 7 as part of Honors Day.

The pinning ceremony is a symbolic, time-honored tradition marking the occasion when students are formally welcomed into the teacher education program. The newest inductees received a pin that signifies their association with the teaching education program as well as their new affiliation with the teaching profession.

Among those who were recognized included, Clare Armstrong of Colorado Springs, Col.; Emily Fowler of Mulberry, Ark.; Tanner Russell of Ozark, Ark.; John Tyler Young of Bryant, Ark.; Drue Lindsey of Mountain Home, Ark.; Hailie Pledger of Ozark, Ark.; Kaylyn Chilton of Gravette, Ark.; Darcy Taylor of Clarksville, Ark.; Annie Nelligan of Fort Smith, Ark; Rebekah Guess of Clarksville, Ark.; Yadira Rodriguez of Kauffman, Texas; Phillip Drilling of Morrilton, Ark.; and Kya Schmidt of Greenwood, Ark.

Teacher education professors Pam Smith, Dr. Doris Metz, Leanita Pelts and Dr. Sergio Molina also participated in the ceremony.

The post Education Students Honored in Pinning Ceremony appeared first on ����vlog����.

The ����vlog���� Pat Walker Teacher Education Program has been named one of the top 35 teacher certification bachelor’s degree programs in the four-state West South Central Region by EducationDegree.com

The TOLA region consists of colleges and universities in Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Arkansas.

In its 2025 listing, EducationDegree.com analyzed more than 130 accredited institutions to come up with its final list of 35. Ozarks was one of four universities and colleges in Arkansas to make the list.

EducationDegree.com looked at such criteria as credentials and experience of professors in the program, academic standards of the university, student teaching opportunities, and national and regional reputation.

According to its website, “Our side-by-side evaluations of all the bachelor’s in education teacher certification programs in the region come together to give you our take on which ones shine brighter than the rest. We are always objective in our approach to these evaluations with no particular favorites going into the process, but in the end what we provide you with is our own recommendations based on the points we feel make a program special.”

 is an online resource that helps individuals find and learn about education and teaching degrees.

The post Teacher Education Program Named Among Best in Region appeared first on ����vlog����.

The ����vlog���� Pat Walker Teacher Education Program honored several of its students on April 30 with a pinning ceremony and inductions into the Ozarks Student Education Association (OSEA) and Kappa Delta Pi (KDP).

The newest inductees included, (pictured, from left) Haley Howard (K-6 elementary education), Aislinn Zapata (K-6 elementary education), James Johnson (K-12 physical education), Olivia Reed (K-12 physical education), and McKenzie Becerra (K-12 physical education). Howard, Zapata, Johnson and Becerra will all graduate on May 11. Reed is scheduled to graduate in December.

The pinning ceremony is a symbolic, time-honored tradition marking the occasion when students are formally welcomed into the teacher education program. The newest inductees received a pin that signifies their association with the teaching education program as well as their new affiliation with the teaching profession.

Several members of the University’s Teacher Education Advisory Committee Brown attended the ceremony. The committee includes, Lance Fetters, Britteny Schluterman, Roy Hester, Joanne Lynch, Dave Meador, Michele Brown and Shelley Vaughn.

Kappa Delta Pi is the international honor society for teacher education. It was founded by Dr. William Bagley in 1911 at the University of Illinois. It was established to foster excellence in education and promote fellowship among those dedicated to teaching. The founders chose the name from the Greek words to represent knowledge, duty, and power. Pioneering from its beginning by including women as well as men, KDP grew from a local chapter to the international organization it is today, comprising 600 chapters and more than 40,000 members.

The post Five Inducted into Teacher Education Program appeared first on ����vlog����.

The ����vlog����’ Pat Walker Teacher Education Program held a pinning ceremony for several of its students on Dec. 5 in the Rogers Conference Center.

The pinning ceremony is a symbolic, time-honored tradition marking the occasion when students are formally welcomed into the teacher education program. The newest inductees received a pin that signifies their association with the teaching education program as well as their new affiliation with the teaching profession.

Among those who attended the ceremony were, (pictured seated, from left) Gloria Sweet, Diana Oudomvilay, Jacob Friemel, Madison Butler, Loren Freeman, Hayley Howard, (standing from left), Brooklyn Cordray, Kearstyn Rouner, Professor Leanita Pelts, T.J. “Tony” Saniseng, Professor Dr. Doris Metz, Jennifer Schmitt, Lakyn Sanders, Professor Pam Smith, McKenzie Becerra, Sarah Todd, Aislinn Zapata and Olivia Reed.

Among those students who were fully admitted into the education program and who were honored with pins included, Oudomvilay, Sweet, Todd, Saniseng, Butler, Freeman, Sanders and Friemel.

Oudomvilay, Sweet, Todd and Schmidt were also recognized during the ceremony for being Fall 2023 graduates.

The keynote speaker was Dave Meador, counselor at Lamar High School and a member of the University’s Teacher Education Advisory Committee (TEAC).

Other members of the TEAC are, Michele Brown (Lamar), Whitney Berg Brown (Scranton), Brad Culver (Ozark Middle School), Lance Spence (Lamar Middle School), Shelley Vaughn (Clarksville High School), Brandy Cogan (Clarksville Junior High School), Bryan Qualls (Clarksville Junior High School), Mark Mooney (Clarksville Primary School), John Elms (Johnson County Westside Elementary School) and Roy Hester, director of the Guy Fenter Education Service Cooperative.

The post Walker Education Program Honors Future Teachers appeared first on ����vlog����.

Garcia, a senior elementary education major and a member of the women’s soccer team, recently completed a whirlwind 8-month adventure that saw her spend a semester abroad in Northern Ireland as well as a 13-day trip to France with her team.

“This year of travel has been hectic, to say the least,” Garcia said. “I was told by one of my friends that I have been overseas more this year than I have been in Clarksville. It has been an amazing lifetime experience that I wouldn’t trade in for anything. It’s been wonderful experiencing new places and meeting new people from different areas. Then coming back home for a while and going to France with my soccer team was also a great experience. I loved that I got to do what I love in a different country with my team. It was an amazing trip.”

Garcia, who grew up within walking distance of the U of O campus, spent the 2023 Spring Semester in Belfast, Ireland, studying education at Stranmillis College through an Ozarks-affiliated program. The nine-hour flight was her first time flying overseas and just the second time she had flown.

Her two older brothers, Luis ’21, and Carlos ’22, also attended and graduated from Ozarks. Luis, who took part in a study abroad experience in Spain when he was a student, accompanied Garcia on her trip to Ireland for the first two weeks.

“I had never traveled abroad before, so it was quite nerve-wracking for me,” Garcia said. “This is why my brother went with me for the first two weeks I was in Northern Ireland. But by the end of the semester, I got so used to traveling alone that I came home in April alone, and then I went to Scotland and London by myself too. It was great to experience hostels and to travel solo.”

Garcia said Luis initially encouraged her to study abroad and helped her prepare for the experience.

“I don’t think I could’ve done it without his support, as well as my family and my professors,” she said. “They were a huge help in guiding me in the right direction, getting documents turned in, and finding the right resources that would help me during my time there. Hearing about Luis’ experiences and how much it changed his life is when I knew I wanted to do it. He was very convincing for me to study abroad. This was cool because Luis was the one to go with me to Northern Ireland. So, while we were there, we both went to Spain. While we were in Spain, we took a train to Granada, which is where Luis studied abroad. He showed me around and where he would walk to school. He even showed me the University he attended. Also, while we were there, we went to a coffee shop that he used to go to all the time, and he showed it to me. The lady in the coffee shop recognized my brother, which was amazing to watch.”

Garcia was able to fund the study abroad experience through the University’s student enrichment fund. She praised the help of her professors in securing the study abroad opportunity.

“I remember starting this process in the spring of 2022 and it getting very exhausting at times,” she said. “There were times I didn’t think that it was going to happen. But my professors kept helping me figure out what courses to take that would match up and that would not put me behind when I came back. They were all understanding and helpful which made the process easier for me. I chose the program Northern Ireland Scholars because the University already has a program set up that’s specifically for education students, which made it easy to find and secure. My professors helped me secure it by writing me recommendation letters.”

At Stranmillis College, Garcia took education courses as well as classes on Northern Ireland, where she learned about the region’s history and culture. She also took a course where she was able to experience a private school classroom first-hand.

“I was placed in a school called Victoria Preparatory School and I worked with 5- and 6-year-old girls,” Garcia said. “This placement was for seven weeks, and I got to learn about the curriculum, how school systems work, and the differences in grade levels between the United States and Northern Ireland. Throughout this time, I would go into the school at 8:30 a.m. and get out at 3:30 p.m., three days a week. This placement was an amazing experience; the teacher I was placed with was so welcoming and provided me with lots of opportunities to learn from her and her students.”

Garcia also had time to explore other parts of Europe.

“On the weekends, I took trips to different countries,” she said, “I traveled to Italy and went to Milan and Venice. I traveled to Edinburgh, Scotland, and I also traveled to London, England. Ireland is a beautiful country, so we did explore a lot of where I was staying, which was Belfast City, but we traveled to different areas like Dublin, Giants Causeway, Londonderry, Peace Walls, Port Rush and many other places.”

Though she was out of her comfort zone for awhile, Garcia quickly made new friends.

“Being okay with being alone really was a challenge,” she said. “ I usually love being surrounded by people, so when I came in not knowing anyone on campus, it was overwhelming. I felt like I was missing out so much at home. I had to rethink that I was living in a different country and that I needed to take advantage of that. Belfast brought me new friends with whom I am still in contact with. In the group of international students, there were people from the States, Germany, Denmark, Netherlands, Austria, Norway, and Switzerland. These people became friends because we were all in the same boat of leaving our homes and coming to live in a different country. We made a lot of fun memories together, such as St. Patrick’s Day in Ireland, Karaoke nights, movie nights, hiking trips, and breakfast and dinners at Chatz.”

Garcia, who plans to be a classroom teacher when she graduates from Ozarks in May, said her experiences over the past eight months have been transformational.

“I believe this year has impacted me tremendously in that I now see things from a different perspective,” she said. “I know there is so much out there to see that I want to experience. Learning about new cultures and places is something that I find interesting. I learned that living by myself is not so bad, at least until you start missing your family. A part of me definitely grew up while I was away.”

Garcia said she is thankful she decided to stay in Clarksville to attend college.

“I believe attending Ozarks was the right choice because it has become a second home to me,” she said. “I would encourage other Clarksville students to consider Ozarks. I never knew how impactful this University would be and the opportunities it would provide me. It has given me a great education, long-term friends and memories that I will cherish forever.”

The post Garcia Traveled Across the Street to See the World appeared first on ����vlog����.

When Cody Sparks graduated from Lamar (Ark.) High School in 2019 as third in her class academically and with superior honors, she had numerous options on where to attend college. Three and a half years later, she knows that her “hometown” University was the right choice for her.

Sparks will graduate from ����vlog���� during the 2022 Fall Semester Commencement ceremony on Dec. 17 with a degree in health science and with Magna Cum Laude honors. Looking back, Sparks said her decision to attend Ozarks was one of the best choices she has ever made.

“I was worried about staying too close to home. College is about getting out and experiencing new things, but I was not sure I would have that staying in the same town I grew up in,” Sparks said. “I originally came to the University to play softball and stay close to my family. My late grandpa was very sick when I decided to come here, and I knew I needed to be close to home. When I toured Ozarks, it felt like I was still right at home. There were professors and students that would come up and talk to me and my parents during my tour and I did not have that at other schools that I visited. Once I broke my foot and my softball career ended, I knew that I still had the same support system from my friends and professors and that never went away.”

Sparks said she has known since the eighth grade that she wanted to be an occupational therapist. She was accepted into her first choice of graduate schools, the OT doctoral program at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, and will begin her studies there in early January.

She found out that she had been accepted into Baylor when she received an email while sitting in Dr. Piroska Boros’ kinesiology class.

“I was ecstatic when I found out I had been accepted,” Sparks said. “Baylor was the school that I had been looking into since I started Ozarks due to their hybrid program and allowing placements close to home for fieldwork. Only so many get accepted and I am so thankful I was chosen to be a part of their upcoming cohort. Dr. Boros thankfully let me step out of class so I could call my family and my boyfriend, Truman [Hensley].”

Sparks credited her professors at Ozarks, especially Dr. Isaac Hunter, assistant professor of psychology, for helping her achieve her goal of being accepted into the occupational therapy doctoral program at Baylor.

“I had to write a personal statement based off of my coursework and experiences at Ozarks and my professors made sure that I had the experiences and courses to make that statement impactful,” Sparks said. “Dr. Hunter was my Ozarks Seminar professor and I have had him every year since. His classes allow you to dig deeper within yourself so that you can be the person you want to be by the time you graduate Ozarks. I thank Dr. Hunter for this experience because he truly tries to get to know all his students and he has their education in his best interest.”

Along with a major in health science, Sparks is graduating with minors in education, American studies and psychology.

“I chose to minor in education in case occupational therapy did not work out,” Sparks said. “I know that my passion is to help those around me, and I felt like with those two choices, one of them would work in my favor.  My American studies minor allowed me to see different perspectives from an abundance of time eras with my English and history classes. I also added a third minor in psychology my senior year in case I wanted to eventually go into the mental health field.”

Sparks said her ideal job would be as a director of rehabilitation at a local hospital.

“I shadowed at the hospital for observation hours in the rehabilitation unit and it was very rewarding seeing the look on the patients’ faces whenever they were able to complete a task that they thought they would never be able to do again,” she said. “Some of these tasks are things that sometimes we take for granted, such as being able to put a sock on. Using my doctorate degree, I will be able to efficiently work alongside a team of therapists for the benefit of our patients.”

Sparks said she was blessed to have received the University’s Frontier Scholarship, which along with working outside jobs, helped pay for her education.

“The scholarship allowed me to focus on my studies and not have to burden my parents,” she said. “I have always had a very strong work ethic and worked smaller jobs up until I was hired part-time at Clarksville Connected Utilities and Friendship Community Care. Both jobs worked around my school schedule, which was hard to manage at first. I worked at Clarksville Connected my freshman and sophomore years of college and Friendship Community Care during my junior and senior years. Both jobs blessed me with the ability obtain income and focus on my schooling.”

Sparks, whose mother, Christy (Warren) Sparks, graduated from Ozarks in 1999, called her time at Ozarks “very rewarding.”

“I have met some of my best friends and I have gained several experiences across different areas of studies,” she said. “I have been able to complete internships, be a part of campus activities, and several sporting activities. Now at the end of my time at Ozarks, it has allowed me to make the decision to continue to stay in Clarksville and hopefully open my own practice to better serve the community that I grew up in.”

(Photo By Janae Spencer)

The post Hometown University Proves Right Choice for Sparks appeared first on ����vlog����.

The ����vlog����’ Pat Walker Teacher Education Program held a pinning ceremony for several of its students on Dec. 6 in the Rogers Conference Center.

The pinning ceremony is a symbolic, time-honored tradition marking the occasion when students are formally welcomed into the teacher education program. The newest inductees received a pin that signifies their association with the teaching education program as well as their new affiliation with the teaching profession.

Among those students who were fully admitted into the education program and who were honored included, Samantha Burke, Truman Hensley, William “Tinker” Kinser, Kaylee Willis, Kailey Barnes, and Trey Vance. In addition, the program’s Internship II students were recognized and congratulated on being almost finished with their internships.

The keynote speaker was Roy Hester, director of the Guy Fenter Education Service Cooperative and a member of the University’s Teacher Education Advisory Committee (TEAC).

Other members of the TEAC are, Michele Brown (Lamar), Whitney Berg Brown (Scranton), Brad Culver (Ozark Middle School), Lance Spence (Lamar Middle School), Shelley Vaughn (Clarksville High School), Brandy Cogan (Clarksville Junior High School), Bryan Qualls (Clarksville Junior High School), Mark Mooney (Clarksville Primary School), John Elms (Johnson County Westside Elementary School) and Dave Meador (Lamar High School). 

The post Education Program Honors Students appeared first on ����vlog����.