On Feb. 4, the University of Montevallo’s College of Education and Human Development held an awards dinner to recognize the achievements of its outstanding alumni. The college presented awards in several categories to recognize accomplishments by alumni who have shown dedication and exemplary commitment to teaching.
Counseling – Katie Beaugez
Beaugez graduated from UM in 2017, and has established herself as a specialized clinical mental health professional for vulnerable populations. Her work includes in home and at-risk counseling service. She has also worked as the coordinator for the Garrett Lee Smith Youth Suicide Prevention Grant for the Alabama Suicide Prevention and Resources coalition.
Instructional Leadership – Charissa Cole
Cole, who earned her master’s degree from UM in 2003, is in her sixth year as the principal at Creek View Elementary School in Alabaster, and has been an educator for 22 years. She previously received the Attorney General’s Certificate of Building a Culture for School Safety Award.
Instructional Technology – Sara Carpenter
Carpenter, who earned her education specialist degree from UM in 2017, has served as the elementary technology integration coach in Hoover City Schools for six years. In this position she assists teachers in finding new and innovative ways to integrate technology throughout their curriculum to improve the classroom learning experience. Prior to this, Carpenter taught fourth grade for 13 years at Riverchase Elementary School.
Teacher Leadership – Mandy Heatherly
Heatherly is an English as a second language teacher at Creek View Elementary School and serves as the Alabaster City Schools ESL coordinator. Heatherly earned her bachelor’s degree from Montevallo in 2002 and earned her education specialist degree from UM in 2016. She has presented at the Engagement Scholarship Conference on Parental Involvement in the Spanish Speaking Latino Community. She is works in service outreach to the Spanish speaking and Latino communities in Alabaster
Deaf and Hard of Hearing – Johnna Nalls
Nalls has been an active educator for the deaf and hard of hearing in the Birmingham since her graduation from UM in 1998. She has helped families of the deaf and hard of hearing to connect with services through her work with the Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind Regional Center.
Elementary/Collaborative – Kelsey Collum
Since earning her bachelor’s degree from Montevallo in 2016 and earning her master’s degree from UM in 2017, Collum has been constantly working to innovate in her classroom. She has co-led the initial LEAD program for middle school students in Shelby County Schools and has written and received multiple grants to offer valuable technological experiences to her students. She currently teaches children with multiple disabilities in a seventh to 12th grade unit at Linda Nolen Learning Center in Pelham.
Elementary Education – Allison Reed
Reed is a fourth-grade teacher at Irondale Community School, while also teaching English to students in China online. She earned her bachelor’s degree from UM in 1999 and earned her master’s degree from Montevallo in 2002. She strives to incorporate research-based teaching strategies into her classroom, and works to create a wholistic teaching environment that considers the development and growth of children.
Secondary Education – Reed Lochamy
Lochamy has taught at Hoover High School for more than five years, and he also serves as a member of the International Baccalaureatte program faculty. He earned his master’s degree from UM in 2011. He is a member of the school’s diversity council. Prior to that, he worked at SafeHouse of Shelby County, a nonprofit organization advocating for victims of domestic violence.
Family and Consumer Sciences – Angela Treadaway
Treadaway has worked for the Alabama Cooperative Extension Program for more than 34 years, beginning as an intern prior to her graduation from UM. She earned her bachelor’s degree from UM in 1984 and earned her master’s degree from UM in 1989. Treadaway’s work at the organization reaches out to school systems with research-based educational tools to help improve the lives of educators and their students.
Nutrition and Wellness – Dana Drake
Drake, who graduated from UM in 1995, has worked as the corporate dietitian for the Schmidt Wallace Health Care company since 2008. In this position she works as a clinical dietician and manages nutritional care in multiple long-term care facilities across the state. She specializes in long-term care and in optimizing the health of elderly patients. She also works to develop the curriculum of the UM dietetics program and coordinates opportunities for UM students at Schmidt Wallace Health Care facilities.
Bill Fancher Staff Excellence Award – Dr. Dwight Jinright
Jinright is the director of UM’s Regional In-Service Center in Pelham, which provides high-quality professional development programs for professional educators throughout the region. Jinright earned his education specialist degree from Montevallo in 2011.
Ernest Outstanding Commitment to Teaching Award – Pat Petitt
Pettit is UM’s director of coordinated program in dietetics. She has experience in clinical nutrition with a specific focus on childhood obesity. She has also focused on nutrition science and how it relates to health education.
Lifetime commitment to Teaching Award – Dr. Alesa Judd
Judd, who earned her bachelor’s degree from Montevallo in 1980 and earned her master’s degree from UM in 1982, spent 38 years as an educator in the Bibb County School system before her retirement in 2019. In. that time she spent 20 years as the administrator for federal education programs and more than 18 years as an elementary school teacher. Judd also spent nine years as an adjunct instructor at UM and taught GED classes at Shelton State Community College.
She also worked with the Alabama College of Community Health Sciences to begin providing school-based health screening for students. The program which Judd pioneered has now been implemented across the state by numerous school systems as KidCheck, and has coauthored numerous academic articles focused on improving children’s access to health care.