Elizabethtown Community and Technical College (ECTC) will recognize six alumni for exemplary service to their professions and communities at a virtual Profiles of Excellence celebration on April 15.
Those recognized, including Leitchfield Family Resource and Youth Service Center Coordinator Rick Whobrey, will be inducted into the ECTC Hall of Distinguished Alumni.
The Distinguished Alumni program is in its 15th year and has celebrated the academic, professional and humanitarian endeavors of 124 former students.
The names and photos of this year’s honorees will join others in the Hall of Distinguished Alumni, on display in the atrium of the Regional Postsecondary Center on ECTC’s Elizabethtown campus.
Those honored include:
Rick Whobrey is the coordinator for the Leitchfield Family Resource and Youth Service Center (FRC) for Grayson County Schools, serving over 1,500 elementary and middle school students.
He helps students and their families overcome non-cognitive barriers to learning and improve their overall academic success. Whobrey is a former Kentucky Farm Bureau executive, and during 29 years working for the organization he oversaw programs involving leadership development initiatives and youth and scholarship programs.
“Rick has been a tremendous asset to our schools through his role with the Wilkey Elementary and Grayson County Middle School FRC programs,” Superintendent Doug Robinson said. “He’s brought a wide-ranging skill set from the business world, combined with a passion for kids and families that has made him a unique and valued team member. He makes a positive impact every single day.”
Additionally, Whobrey was also the first Executive Director of the Kentucky High School Basketball Hall of Fame where he oversaw all day-to-day operations and managed the hall’s first induction ceremony.
Whobrey earned an Associate in Arts from ECTC and a Bachelor of Science in Human Services from the University of the Cumberlands. He is an active member and retired elder of Elizabethtown Church of Christ.
Kelli Bush is the Superintendent of Elizabethtown Independent Schools.
Bush received her Associate in Science from ECTC. During her time at ECTC, she came to believe she could pursue a four-year degree, the first to do so in her family.
Bush went on to earn her Master of Arts in Education from Western Kentucky University. She is currently in her 27th year as an educator serving in various roles including elementary school teacher, principal, assistant superintendent for student learning and now superintendent.
Bush hopes to increase the number of students who graduate high school and attend college and she has fostered an outstanding working relationship between the district and ECTC. Bush is dedicated to providing the future generation with the best education.
She was recently inducted into the Kentucky Women in Education Leadership.
Mary Jane Lambert Elliott attended ECTC to earn her Associate in Science.
She went on to earn a Master of Science in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Louisville. In her final career move, Elliott began at the Institute for Cellular Therapeutics, where she was in charge of the Manufacturing Bone Marrow processing team for an FDA clinical trial that changed the lives of 20 people. Because of her work in this study, she is the co-creator on two patents and has published five peer-reviewed manuscripts.
Elliott also had the privilege of presenting her success at the Sydney Australia Scientific Conference in 2008.
Dr. Jacqueline Gerard’s life’s work has been to facilitate change and improvement by teaching and coaching. She carried out this work formally in Jefferson County as an English teacher, then at ECTC as a developmental skills teacher, at First Presbyterian Church as a Sunday school teacher, and at Hardin Memorial Hospital as a performance coach.
Gerard is the author of “The Big Ones that Did Not Get Away” outlining the improvements at Hardin Memorial Hospital and selected as a 2000 Success Story National Winner. She also brought improvement to Hardin County through her organizational and community work.
Earlier in life, she served on the founding boards of Leadership Elizabethtown, Let’s Spruce it Up and The Spouse Abuse Center. As a seven-year member of the Elizabethtown Planning Commission, Gerard upheld quality community planning, promoting ordinances aimed at improving the city’s appearance.
Mark Nelson worked his way up the corporate ladder starting as a teenager with a part-time job at Video Vault. He continued to move up in the company from manager to district manager to regional manager covering the entire Midwest.
His former boss at Video Vault contacted him to work for Sun Tan City. Nelson is now the President of Operations of Planet Fitness and Sun Tan City, including over 200 local Sun Tan City locations.
He graduated from ECTC with an associate degree and went on to earn his Master of Business Administration at Campbellsville University.
He coaches middle school baseball at Saint James Catholic School. He originally started coaching because of his own kids, and six years later, he continues for the love of the sport. Nelson is passionate about helping build up others.
He is the founder of the Financial Freedom Fund, which ensures Hardin County High School receives funding for financial literacy.
Walter Roark is the Operations Manager of the Missile Defense Agency Quality and Mission Assurance Contract for a.i. solutions, a business that offers products and engineering services to enable space missions.
Roark began his college education at ECTC, earning his associate degree. He went on to earn a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Tennessee.
He has 35 years of experience supporting the Missile Defense Agency, U.S. Army, U.S. Air Force and various NASA programs. While working with NASA, he served as a mechanical engineer and built science experiments that were a part of several Space Shuttle missions and earned the “Silver Snoopy Award” for his work with NASA.
The award symbolizes the intent and spirit of Space Flight Awareness. He is also a very generous, intelligent and thoughtful person who has given back abundantly to his community and profession. He has helped influence many engineers and projects in his profession, as well as Boy Scouts in his community.
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS
ECTC also will present Lifetime Achievement Awards to Wanda Poteat and Sharon Spratt.
Wanda Poteat taught English, reading and math for over 35 years at what is now ECTC.
Over the years, she competently and willingly adjusted her teaching to ensure students were taught the skills they needed to be successful. In addition to her focus on student learning, Poteat was active on several college committees and invested her free time in making sure the college was set up to succeed.
She was a member of the Kentucky Association of Special Needs Personnel and was selected as teacher of the year. Her insight and dedication to this group was instrumental in changes made in support of all students. Poteat was the epitome of what a teacher should be. She focused on student success and achievement and worked tirelessly toward this goal.
Sharon Spratt provided dedicated and outstanding service to the students at ECTC for over 48 years.
She has worked as an admissions officer, registrar and dean of student affairs and earned the faculty rank of professor and counselor.
Each year, and in each position, Spratt added value to the college. Students could depend on her for leadership, enthusiasm, support and professionalism. Her passion was to help those students who were hurting the most — hurting due to academic issues, personal issues or dealing with loss. Her commitment to making ECTC a better institution was demonstrated each and every day of her career.
Spratt’s dedication expanded beyond ECTC. She was involved in Rotary and Big Brothers Big Sisters, and was a past board member for Hosparus Health.
Profiles of Excellence will premiere on ECTC’s Facebook and YouTube pages at 6 p.m. Eastern time on Thursday, April 15. For more information about Profiles of Excellence or the ECTC Alumni Network, please contact Megan Stith at megan.stith@kctcs.edu or 270-706-8721.
(Photo: Rick Whobrey)
By Ken Howlett, News Director
Contact Ken at ken@k105.com
