The goal of the award is to recognize excellence and encourage scholarship among the more than 760,000 students of the NCCCS.  The students selected at each institution have set the highest possible goals and attained the pinnacle of academic success in the Community College System.

Three students are chosen to represent the entire group of honorees and traditionally present personal and often emotional accounts of their community college experience during the ceremony. The speakers this year are: Betty Jo Beals, an Information Systems and Computer Programming major at South Piedmont Community College in Polkton; John Henderson, an Information Systems major at Western Piedmont Community College in Morganton; and Steve Davis Wallace, an Early Childhood Associate Degree major at Pitt Community College in Greenville.  Each has a 4.0 grade point average.

Two of the honorees, April Layne, an Opticianary major at Durham Technical Community College and Karen Metcalf Rippy, a Secondary Education major at Cleveland Community College in Shelby, were recently named to the 2001-2002 All-USA Academic First Team. They, along with KwaiChun Lee Chan, an Education major at Wayne Community College in Goldsboro and an AEA honoree last year, were three of the 20 students selected from a field of 1,472 from across the country for this prestigious academic recognition. North Carolina was the only state to have three students on the All-USA Academic First Team. They will be recognized for their accomplishment at the luncheon.

The AEA students receive several items to treasure. They will leave the ceremony with a medallion, mounted certificate, engraved mug, lapel pin, key chain, canvas bag, and t-shirt. Each item is provided by a community college or related organization.

Many North Carolina legislators, invited by their community colleges, attend the event to celebrate with constituents. The State Board of Community College members and other dignitaries also attend.

The AEA honorees represent the diversity of the community college student population and the variety of programs offered at the colleges. This event is a high point of the community college calendar and a special part of the graduation season.

-NCCCS-

Back to previous page.