Rappahannock Community College (RCC) recently announced the winners of the College’s IDEAL Awards. Presented annually to a full-time instructional faculty member; a full-time classified staff, an administrative, or professional faculty member; a part-time wage employee; an adjunct faculty member; and, a dual enrollment instructor, the award focuses on RCC’s values.
The award’s name comes from an acronym encompassing these values, including: Integrity; Diversity and inclusion; Excellence; Access; and, Learning for Life. Students, colleagues, community members, and anyone else have the opportunity to nominate an RCC employee for the award. “The judging committee had a difficult time choosing the winners as 29 different employees were nominated,” said Dr. Shannon Kennedy, RCC President. “All of the nominees are deserving of the recognition and monetary award.”
Winners are:
- Claire Adrian-Tucci, dual enrollment instructor for the Chesapeake Bay Governor’s School located in Glenns. Comments from the nominators included: “She personally makes sure that each of her current and former students are excelling in all of their courses, even ones that she does not teach;” and “She is very open-minded to new ideas and if a student has a question that she doesn’t even know the answer to, then we all look it up as a group and discover things outside the scope of our class. She does this because she isn’t just teaching the SOL, she is teaching us science.”
- Terri Seward, adjunct instructor in information technology. The student nominating Ms. Seward had this to say, “Simply put, Professor Seward is the IDEAL instructor. Integrity: She held us accountable without belittling a student’s work ethic. Diversity & Inclusion: The educational online space always used scenarios with ample representation and accessibility. Excellence: I went into this course thinking that I knew Excel, and finished the course realizing I barely knew anything. Now, I’m so well-versed in Excel, I feel competent enough to seek a job where spreadsheets are a requirement. Access: There was amnesty for when my online materials were undergoing issues for multiple days causing me to miss my deadline. She understood that access limitations weren’t a reason for me not to prove successful. Learning for Life: She has had a lifelong effect on me as she was simply the best instructor I’ve had since the beginning of this degree.”
- Kathy Payne, full-time staff, Instructional Support Technologist. “Kathy is a true resource for the college. Whenever I have a question related to something under her purview, she always goes the extra mile to ensure I have an answer,” said one of the nominators. Another commented, “Kathy is ALWAYS available to help me and our students. I continue to be amazed by the vast amount of her knowledge and quick response to a referred student or when I have issues.”
- Amber Dinquel, full-time faculty, English. “She has spearheaded the effort to encourage writing, research, and excitement of learning among a broad range of students, not just students enrolled in English classes,” said one nominator. “Her classes are engaging, provide her students with a solid background in writing, and create a sense of a creative learning community; She is an exceptional mentor and instructor,” commented another nominator.
Dr. Ralph D. Elliott established an award in 2022 to annually recognize and honor an RCC instructor, staff member, or administrator who has promoted initiatives in the field of workforce credential or continuing education in a worthy and exemplary manner. This year’s winner of the Dr. Ralph D. Elliott Award is Marjorie Lampkin, Coordinator for Office of Career and Transition Services. Ms. Lampkin received numerous nominations from colleagues. “She leads by example in every area of her life. Her work ethic, professionalism, talent, compassion, empathy, and commitment to every student is simply unmatched,” said one nominator. Work ethic, compassion, and serving students was mentioned in each of the nominations Ms. Lampkin received.
“I congratulate the winners, and those who were nominated,” said Kennedy. “Reading the comments about our wonderful employees makes me proud to be part of RCC.”