As our mission statement says, Central Baptist College is committed to transforming lives through education that integrates Christian faith and academic excellence in a Christ-centered environment. As a result, we find joy in recognizing this and other types of excellence on our campus. We recently had the opportunity to commend the success and excellence displayed by both our student body and our employees.
On Wednesday, April 10, we held our annual Academic Awards Ceremony in Burgess auditorium, where we acknowledged the academic success of several students. At the beginning of the ceremony, all students on the Dean’s list and President’s list were recognized.
The Business Department recognized students in four categories:
• William Palmer received the Arkansas Society of CPAs’ scholarship award;
• Randall Anthony Portoni, Alyssa Lynn Hagewood and Annesta Richards were recognized as Honor Graduates;
• Katie Danielle Smith received the Outstanding Graduate Award; and
• Ruben Hernandez and Bryson Jones received the Servant Leader Award.
The Behavioral Science Department recognized Eden Brister, Ashleigh Daugherty and Hannah Varnado with the Outstanding Students in Psychology Award.
The Communications Department recognized the Tower Media Leadership Team, consisting of Lydia Dunlap, Mason Crymes, Kailey Sullivan, Grace Vandergriff and Hannah Varnado. Candyce Slayton then received the Outstanding Student in Communications Award.
The Literature and Language Arts Department presented four awards:
• Mason Crymes, Kris Mallory, Emily Pharr and Paige West received the Creative Writing Award;
• Josh Ramirez and Anna Battenfield received the Dedicated Student Award;
• Parker Tebo received the Critical Thinker Award; and
• Mason Crymes received the Outstanding English Award.
The Math and Science Department presented two awards:
• Ashley Henderson received the Outstanding Student in Mathematics award; and
• Lauren McGinley received the Outstanding Science Graduate Award.
White Coat Recipients Eliza Derryberry, Kylie Germann, Cameron Hardin, Ashley Henderson, Hannah Long, Allie McWhorter and Madalyn Tubbs were also recognized.
The Kinesiology Department presented the Kinesiology Award to Austin LeJeune and recognized his perfect 4.0 GPA.
The Music and Fine Arts Department recognized two students:
• Caleb Allen received the Outstanding Recital Award; and
• AJ Woodraska received the Outstanding Musician Award.
Employee Awards
On Monday, April 15, we held our annual Employee Appreciation and Awards Luncheon. During this event, we recognized faculty and staff for their years of service and presented numerous awards to our faithful employees on campus.
President Kimbrow presented the President’s Awards:
• The Behind-the-Scenes Award was presented to Dr. Larry Henderson;
• The Award for Professionalism was presented to Dr. Deandriea Bass-Carrigan;
• The Award for Loyalty was presented to Judy Gabbard;
• The Outstanding Achievement Award was presented to Sam Kohnke and Dr. Rachel Scott;
• The Award for Teamwork was presented to Lisa Padgett;
• The Award for Dedication was presented to Paul Cherry;
• The Award for Excellence was presented to Chad Smith;
• The Award for Leadership was presented to Steve Elder; and
• The FRED Award was presented to Kylie Williams.
Dr. Gary McAllister presented the Academic Awards:
• Steve Elder, Melissa Starkey and Dr. Deandriea Bass-Carrigan were recognized as Division Winners, and Melissa Starkey received the Outstanding Faculty of the Year Award.
Finally, the 2024 Employee of the Year was announced. The nominees this year were Lynsey Brown, Dana Dowdy, Erik Holth, Brian Kolde, Sam Kohnke, Lisa Padgett, Billie Rodriguez and Kylie Williams. The winner was Dana Dowdy, who received the award for her loyalty, work ethic, positive attitude and professionalism.
We are very happy to have recognized the hard work of these students and employees and want to congratulate them all once again on these well-deserved awards.
