[443] Adult Learners Celebrate Learning, Excelling At Picnic

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 28, 2010
EDITORIAL CONTACT: Dr. Carol Ann Baily, 615-898-5989

ADULT LEARNERS CELEBRATE LEARNING, EXCELLING AT PICNIC
Scholarships, Honors for Nontraditional Students Mark Year-End Gathering

(MURFREESBORO) – Older Wiser Learners (OWLs), an organization for nontraditional students at MTSU, will hold its annual picnic, awards ceremony and Pinnacle initiation from 5:30-7:30 p.m. tomorrow, April 29, in Barfield Park in Murfreesboro.
Some students will be inducted into Pinnacle, MTSU’s chapter of the national nontraditional honor society for students over the age of 25. OWLs will present awards to family members, friends and professors who have been helpful to the nontraditional students throughout the year.
As well as the 3.0 GPA required for undergraduates (3.4 for graduate students), Pinnacle’s criteria for admission include previous community service, volunteer work and honors that students have earned in life.
Several nontraditional students will receive scholarships for the 2010-2011 academic year. These include Enrichment Scholarships to Christina Dawson of Murfreesboro and Shilo Rich-Johnson of Tullahoma.
Dawson, the mother of a young son, majors in Spanish with minors in sociology and secondary education. Rich-Johnson, the mother of three children, majors in microbiology and minors in chemistry and criminology.
Joni Maxwell, a nursing major from Murfreesboro, will receive the Jane Nickell Taylor Scholarship. Dana LeGeune will receive the Joan Nickell Bailey Scholarship. LeGeune, the mother of two children and a Tullahoma resident, majors in business and minors in education.
Ten OWLs Academic Service Scholarships will be awarded to:

· Lisa Almy, Murfreesboro, history major with two sons;
· Jesse Coe, Murfreesboro, global studies major;
· Leslie Dixon-Mackey, Woodbury, social work major with eight children;
· Terri Ellison, Murfreesboro, exercise science major with one son;
· Bethany Harris, Murfreesboro, media design major with one daughter;
· Herbert Wayne Newcomb Jr., Rockvale, computer engineering technology and nursing major and single father of one daughter;
· Elizabeth Silva, Antioch, English major and secondary education minor with one son;

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· Virginia Soulia, La Vergne, business finance and administration major, three children;
· Laurence Tumpag, Murfreesboro, social work major and history minor; and,
· Kelly Williams, Christiana, elementary education major, four children.

Some awards that were presented at an April 25 celebration will be shared with students at the picnic. These include the Student Organization Co-sponsorship of an Event plaque won jointly by OWLs and Pinnacle for their Idea Mapping workshops; a plaque for Ridin’ Raiders, the organization of commuter students, who won an award for their website; and the Student Organization President award for the year won by Monique Denney of Murfreesboro, OWLs president from 2007-2009.
Any student, regardless of age, who has adult responsibilities in addition to college, may join OWLs. For more information, contact Dr. Carol Ann Baily, director of Off-Campus Student Services, at 615-898-5989 or cabaily@mtsu.edu.

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With three Nobel Prize winners among its alumni and former faculty, Middle Tennessee State University confers master’s degrees in 10 areas, the Specialist in Education degree, the Doctor of Arts degree and the Doctor of Philosophy degree. MTSU is ranked among the top 100 public universities in the nation in the Forbes “America’s Best Colleges” 2009 survey.