From left: Honorees Dr. Jordan Sanderson, Jackson County Campus; Sandra Halat, Jefferson Davis Campus; and Gayle Greene-Aguirre, Perkinston Campus, with MGCCC president Dr. Mary S. Graham.
The 2013 Instructors of the Year were recognized at the Alumni/Foundation Spring Reception on Tuesday, March 26, at the Jackson County Campus in Gautier. This year’s honorees are Dr. Jordan Sanderson, Jackson County Campus; Sandra Halat, Jefferson Davis Campus; and Gayle Greene-Aguirre, Perkinston Campus.
Since 1971, MGCCC students, faculty, administrators and college organizations have nominated outstanding instructors for the prestigious Instructor of the Year awards. The three instructors chosen are selected based on their academic excellence, dedication and professionalism both inside and outside the classroom. The honorees were presented resolutions from the Mississippi Legislature and awarded $1,000 from the MGCCC Foundation for use in their respective instructional areas.
Dr. Jordan Sanderson
Dr. Jordan Sanderson, Jackson County Campus
Jordan Sanderson, language arts instructor at the Jackson County Campus, has been with the college since 2009. He has a doctorate of philosophy from The University of Southern Mississippi’s Center for Writers. He has taught at Auburn University, as an Excellence Fellow at USM, and as an adjunct instructor at both Columbus State University and Pearl River Community College. He was the recipient of the Phi Theta Kappa Paragon Award for the Mississippi/Louisiana Region in 2012, the Higher Education Appreciation Day-Working for Academic Excellence (HEADWAE) Award for MGCCC in 2010, an Excellence Fellowship from 2005-2007 at USM and the Joan Johnson Award for Poetry, 2006, at USM.
Along with his full teaching schedule, he serves as adviser to Phi Theta Kappa, Circle K (college Kiwanis) and College Republicans, and is on the Vice President’s Advisory Committee at the Jackson County Campus.
Sandra Halat
Sandra Halat, Jefferson Davis Campus
Sandra Halat, an MGCCC alumna, has been a visual arts instructor at the Jefferson Davis Campus for more than 10 years. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at the University of North Carolina in Asheville and her Master of Fine Arts degree at the University of North Carolina in Greensboro. She has received numerous awards for her art, including Best in Show and the Award of Excellence from the Singing River Art Association in 2004, Exceptional Merit and Awards of Excellence from the Ocean Springs Art Association competitions in 2001-2010, the 2011 Award from the Ocean Springs Juried Art Association competition, and inclusion in the Mississippi Art Colony Traveling Shows in 2001. She was the recipient of Phi Theta Kappa’s Most Distinguished Alumni Award in 2012 and a National Endowment for the Humanities grant in 2011. She has served as a board member and scholarship chair for the Mississippi Art Colony, is an active member of the MGCCC Faculty Association, and received a major commission for a mural in the Mary C. O’Keefe Center (2005) and for paintings in the Singing River Medical Facility in Pascagoula (2011).
Gayle Greene-Aguirre
Gayle L. Greene-Aguirre, Perkinston Campus
Gayle Greene-Aguirre, a social science instructor, has a Bachelor of Arts degree in history from the University of Connecticut, a Master of Arts degree in Latin American history from the University of North Texas, and additional graduate work and educational certifications in English, Spanish, English as a Second Language and leadership. She is a retired Army lieutenant colonel ordnance officer. Teaching history full time at the college since 1999, Greene-Aguirre is also the Phi Theta Kappa and Honors College adviser at the Perkinston Campus. She was awarded Phi Theta Kappa’s International Adviser’s Award for Continued Excellence in 2012; the Association of Community College Trustees Southern Region Faculty Award (national) in 2009; the Phi Theta Kappa International Distinguished Adviser Award in 2009; the Mississippi Professional Educators Board Appreciation Award in 2008; Who’s Who Among Teachers in 2007; the Phi Theta Kappa Paragon Award for New Advisers in 2002; NISOD Excellence in Teaching Award (Austin, Texas) in 2002; the Higher Education Appreciation Day-Working for Academic Excellence (HEADWAE) Award for MGCCC in 2003; Instructor of the Year for the Perkinston Campus in 2002; Mississippi Humanities Council Teacher of the Year for the Perkinston Campus in 2001; and the Bennie Warren Outstanding Phi Theta Kappa Adviser for Mississippi/Louisiana Region in 2001.