Centralia College held a pinning ceremony Friday evening to congratulate 14 students graduating from the school's teaching program and to honor two of the students with a Golden Apple Award.
The ceremony was held at the Corbet Theatre on the Centralia College campus. It invited the program’s students and their families and friends to see the students be recognized for their achievement. The event closed with program director and lead instructor Ann Grande Moody announcing the recipients of two Golden Apple Awards, which came in the form of golden apple-shaped bells to be put on the teachers’ desks.
The awards were given to students who exemplified a list of criteria, with one recipient being chosen by the program faculty and the other being selected by the students of the cohort.
“This candidate is the one you would most want as a grade level team member in your future role as a teacher,” Moody said. “They are reliable, hard-working, collaborative, dedicated to children, positive, strong in content knowledge, a lifelong learner always in search of effective teaching strategies, and flexible."
While each of the 14 students were nominated at least once for a Golden Apple Award, Sara Devore was selected as the first recipient by the program faculty and Evie Rooklidge was chosen by her classmates as the second recipient.
Two more students, Tausha Lawrence and Daniel Hawkins, were selected by Moody as honorable mention candidates who did not receive the Golden Apple Award but were nonetheless honored for their values and commitment to becoming outstanding teachers.
The event began with a reception in the lobby of the Corbet Theatre starting at 6 p.m. that gave students, families and friends a chance to mingle and celebrate ahead of the pinning ceremony. Around 6:30 p.m., all attendees were asked to find their seats in the theatre to begin the ceremony.
After the audience was welcomed by Moody, Connie Smejkal, the vice president of instruction at Centralia College, took a moment to speak. Smejkal took an unorthodox approach, asking students to raise their hands if they had ever considered quitting the program. As many of the students raised their hands and giggled a bit, she applauded their perseverance and commitment to their education.
“I want to thank you for your dedication to your people that are in this room,” Smejkal said. “I thank you for being here this evening and trusting Centralia College with your education.”
Before asking students to come onto the stage, Moody took a moment to dedicate the ceremony to a former student, Talia May-Hansen, who died in 2021 after contracting COVID-19. She spoke of May-Hansen’s commitment to being a remarkable teacher to her students and the example she set for future students.
Next, each of the 14 students was invited onto the stage one by one to receive their apple-shaped pin — a symbol of the teaching profession — and to be congratulated, recognized and welcomed to their field by a line of their instructors. Faculty and host teachers read passages about each of the students and their achievements as they rose from the audience and came to the stage.
The Golden Apple Awards were handed out last before students and their supporters were thanked for attending and the ceremony came to a close.
According to Moody, this was the fourth Golden Apple ceremony after she pushed to start the event locally after being inspired by the pinning ceremonies put on by many nursing programs. “While commencement honors our students' degrees, this ceremony welcomes this graduating group into their profession,” Moody said.
The pinning event followed by Centralia College’s spring graduation ceremony on Wednesday, June 18, marks nine years since Centralia College started its teaching program in cooperation with many local school districts who are represented on the programs advisory board.
According to Moody, the program was originally created in an attempt to meet the rising demand for teachers in the area as many schools, especially those in smaller rural districts, struggled to meet staffing needs and overcome a teacher shortage.
The advisory board helps to advise and adapt the programs to ensure graduates are meeting the needs of local schools.
The teaching program is one of Centralia College’s select bachelor degree programs and requires applicants to have earned their associate’s degree before applying. Altogether, the program has graduated 150 students since 2019, with many of the graduates today teaching within 30 miles of Centralia College.
