EMCC Instructor One of Only Two In Nation Awarded Scholarship

MAYHEW, Miss. (PRESS RELEASE) — East Mississippi Community College English instructor Ginny Leonard has been awarded the prestigious McGraw-Hill Education Scholarship to attend the 2016 Kellogg Institute for Developmental Educators and Learning Specialists.

The $2,500 scholarship, awarded nationally to only two individuals each year, will make it possible for Leonard to attend the 36th Kellogg Institute at Appalachian State University in Boone, N.C.

Leonard will spend two weeks in July engaging with other developmental education specialists and experts from all over the country.

“I am honored to have been named a scholarship recipient,” Leonard said.

“I am excited to attend this conference, not just for myself but as a representative of EMCC and the state of Mississippi. I am excited to engage with others who work with this population and bring what I learn home to our students and to my colleagues.”

Leonard has been invited to receive her award at the annual National Association for Developmental Education (NADE) conference in Anaheim, California, in March.

“We could not be prouder of Ginny,” EMCC Golden Triangle Academic Dean Gina Thompson said.

“Adept, gregarious, and energetic are the words that merely scratch the surface of this wonderfully-deserving instructor. She competed with other teachers from all over the country for this scholarship, and by winning she has proven that EMCC is home to some of the best instructors in the world.”

While Leonard teaches all levels of English at EMCC, she has been a leader in the school’s developmental program for several years, and in 2014, she was awarded the Vashti Underwood Muse Outstanding Developmental Educator of the Year for the state of Mississippi.

Leonard has been a full-time member of the EMCC Golden Triangle campus academic faculty since 2011.

She lives in Columbus with her husband Wade and her two sons Mark, 6, and David, 3.