12
February 12,1998
Featuies
Contributing to the success at Elon:
Leaders Kebbler McGhee, Mike Smith
Giselle Pole
Features Editor
As McGhee prepares to gradu
ate, she looks back on her college
years and remembers her first en
counter with Elon.
McGhee, a senior majoring in
elementary education, first heard
about Elon through a college night
at her high school.
Person High. The pre
senter for Elon was
L’Tanya Richmond,
then the Associate Di
rector of Admissions.
McGhee visited Elon
5 times before she en
rolled in the Fall of
‘93.
McGhee says the
campus and the class
size are what she liked
about Elon, as well as
the North Carolina
Teaching Fellows
(NCTF) Program.
“It’s the best in the state,” she
said of the program.
McGhee is not only a Teach
ing Fellow, but an Isabella Cannon
Leadership Fellow and an Honors
Fellow.
“It’s been one of my goals
since I’ve been here to graduate as
those three things,” she said. “And
I will be doing that in May.”
Her accomplishlnents and
achievements have created many
memories for her throughout her
four years.
“I remember Move In Day;
the excitement was everywhere,”
McGhee said.
Also significant in her memory
were the travel experiences with
the Teaching Fellows, such as the
semester in London and the Ameri
can Heritage Tour.
“That American Heritage
Tour... that was a bus ridel’ll never
forget,” she said with a laugh. “I
think that’s-where strong friend
ships began with some of my other
Fellows; friendships that will never
sever.”
As a senior Teaching Fellow,
McGhee has a different schedule
from most students. Her day begins
at 5 a.m., bedtime for many, and
she has to be at Hillcrest Elemen
tary School by 7:15
a.m. She teaches a
fifth grade class
throughout the
school day,
“After I leave
the school (usually
after 3:30), I come
home and think
about what I have
to do the next day.”
McGhee also has a
Senior Seminar
once a week.
This may
seem as a hectic
and strenuous schedule to some,
but MsGhee views it differently.
“I don’t think of it as being a
strain,” she said. “From the mo
ment my mom called me to tell me
that I had been accepted into the
program, I’ve felt it was a privi
lege... it hasn’t all been a bed of
roses, butit’s whatkeptme at Elon.”
When asked how she liked stu
dent teaching, she paused for a few
moments and smiled.
“I’m growing very fond of the
students I work with,” she said. “I
foresee great opportunities for
learning, both on their part and
mine.”
As if student teaching and com-
pleting her seminar were not
enough, McGhee is currently in
volved in several organizations and
societies. She is president of Omi-
cron Delta Kappa, the leadership
honor society and vice-president of
the Student North Carolina Asso
ciation of Educators.
She is also a member of Phi
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Eta Sigma, the freshman honor so
ciety, Phi Kappa Phi, the academic
society, and a student ambassador,
and serves on the Senior Gift com
mittee.
McGhee has received many
awards for her accomplishments.
She was awarded the Staff Member
of the Year for Community Devel
opment Coordinators (CDC), an
award that was “a big surprise,” she
said.
At the annual Awards Day,
held in May 1997, she received the
Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award,
an award that meant a great deal to
her.
“That award just makes you
aware that you never know how
you affect the people you’ re around
everyday,” she said.
McGhee still manages to main
tain her grades despite the many
activities she’s involved in. For
three consecutive years, she re
ceived the Black Excellence Award
for the highest GPA in her class.
“I feel that this lets me be an
unspoken model for the rest of my
African-American peers,” she said.
Probably her greatest impact
is felt on the students she mentored
in the Student Mentors Advising
Rising Talent (S.M.A.R.T.) Pro
gram.
“Kebbler serves as a spiritual
inspiration to me,” said Maurice
Gardner, sophomore. “During those
times when things became hard for
me, she always provided that
needed word of encouragement.”
Because he spent his pri
mary and secondary school years
in private institutions, Michael
Smith had his preference when it
camc to choosing a college.
“I knew I needed the same
kind of environment, so immedi
ately 1 ruled out all the big
schools,” he said.
As he leafed through a maga
zine featuring southern colleges,
Smith said that Elon stood out
He visited one other school in
Virginia before he came to Elon.
'‘When I saw this school, I
knew it was the one,” he said. “It
felt exactly right, and looked ex
actly what a college was sup
posed to look like.”
Smith is in his third year at
Elon, but is graduating a year
early due to full semester loads,
attending all Winter and Sum
mer terms, and completing his
Washington Center internship.
He is majoring in psychology
and minoring in human services.
After graduation. Smith plans on
attending graduate school for
educational psychology, work
ing in a clinic or conducting re
search in learning disabilities.
His specialty is working with
children,
**l have a strong interest in
kids aad literacy ” he said/'Most
of my volunteer work involves
vo!v«in^nt something that
seeSMnB,pagel3
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