Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College was represented at the 21st annual HEADWAE (Higher Education Appreciation Day-Working for Academic Excellence) program in Jackson on Feb. 24 by instructor Sandra Acres and student McKenna Hereford.
Acres, who is the Language Arts department chair at the Perkinston Campus and a 33-year veteran Gulf Coast instructor, said, “The award is truly an honor because we have such an outstanding institution with so much to offer students in our district. I am proud to represent the Gulf Coast faculty in Jackson and want to share with everyone, not just our lawmakers, what an incredible job community colleges are doing in Mississippi and the nation.”
Hereford, a sophomore psychology major at the Jackson County Campus, said, “I feel very privileged to have been chosen because there are so many incredible students at the college. I’m also happy to have represented Gulf Coast to our state legislators in Jackson, and I hope I left a positive impression on them. I plan to keep in touch with them and to continue to be an advocate for education in Mississippi.”
Each February the state Legislature, along with the Mississippi Association of Colleges, recognizes an outstanding faculty member and student from each of the state’s community colleges and universities during the HEADWAE program. This year all honorees visited the state Capitol and attended the HEADWAE awards luncheon as part of day’s activities.
