MGCCC Celebrates 2016 Instructors of the Year at Spring Reception
Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College celebrated the 2016 Instructors of the Year at the annual Spring Reception held on April 21 at the Hospitality & Resort Management Center in Biloxi. Sarah Nix, Leslie Harrington and Dr. Javier Gomez were chosen to receive this year’s award, which includes a $1,000 stipend each from the MGCCC Foundation for use in teaching and classroom expenses.
MGCCC has honored outstanding instructors with the prestigious Instructor of the Year Award since 1971. The winners are selected based on their academic excellence, dedication and professionalism both inside and outside the classroom.
Sarah Nix
Perkinston Campus
Sarah Nix has taught at MGCCC for 10 years and serves as the director of the Early Childhood Education Technology program at the Perkinston Campus. A graduate of the program she now teaches, Nix graduated with an Associate of Applied Science degree in Child Development in 2000. She received her Associate of Arts degree in 2001, her Bachelor of Science degree in Child Care and Family Education from Jackson State University in 2001, and her Master of Science degree in education from JSU in 2005.
Nix has received the Lamplighter Award, Mississippi Staff of the Year (2005) and the NAEYC Award for Child Care. She participates in the Prime Time Reading Program, is an Education Policy Fellowship Leadership Development Leader and is a Literacy Mentor. Her Early Childhood Education Technology program keeps a Five-Star Quality Rating Award, the highest in the state.
Leslie Harrington
Jefferson Davis Campus
Leslie Harrington has taught at MGCCC since 2010, teaching practical nursing and maternal and child courses and currently serving as the LPN-RN Hybrid Course coordinator at the Jefferson Davis Campus. An MGCCC alumna, Harrington graduated from the college with honors in 1995. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing from The University of Southern Mississippi in 1997, graduating with highest honors, and her Master of Science degree in Nursing from William Carey University in 2007, completing that degree with a 4.0 grade point average.
She is an MGCCC Leadership graduate and member of the Sigma Theta Tau honor society for nursing. She was chosen as the Health Occupations Students of America Advisor of the Year, as a Lamplighter and received the USM Nursing Eagle Award. She is a member of the National League for Nursing and the Mississippi Council of Directors of Practical Nursing Programs.
Dr. Javier Gomez
Jackson County Campus
Dr. Javier Gomez is a language arts instructor at the Jackson County Campus, has been with MGCCC since 2012. He teaches Japanese and Spanish at the Jackson County Campus and Spanish for shipbuilding at the Maritime Academy at Ingalls. In 2013, he was selected as the Humanities Teacher of the Year for the Jackson County Campus, representing the college at the state Humanities Council Public Awards Ceremony.
His presentation for the Humanities Award was “Making Global Connections with Canvas Computing.” Gomez received his Bachelor of Arts degree from The University of Florida and his Master of Arts degree in Teaching Languages from The University of Southern Mississippi. This year, he received his doctorate in Instructional Technology and Design from USM, receiving the Instructional Technology Academic Achievement, Ph.D. Program Award.