Sharon Whitehead, Somerset Community College Interim Dean of Academic Affairs, announced that Frank Carothers, associate professor in the Business and Information Technology Division, and Donna Eastham, instructor in the Education and Consumer Sciences Division, had been awarded the SCC 2008 Excellence in Teaching Award. Carothers and Eastham also won the same annual award in 2007.

The announcement was made during the college’s annual Honors Night Ceremony, held at the London Community Center on Friday, April 26.

Carothers also won the award in 2006. Carothers has received the award a record four times. He was born on a U.S. Naval Base on the island of Guam in the Marinas Islands.

His father is retired from the U.S. Navy, and his mother is a “naturalized” American citizen from Saipan Marinas Islands.

After serving one year as an enlisted man in the Navy, Carothers was offered an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1984 with a B.S. degree in physical science and was commissioned an ensign. He served for five years as a naval officer.

He then went to graduate school and graduated with an MBA from Murray State in 1992. He started working at SCC in 1992. He has completed coursework for his doctorate from Mississippi State University in 2007. Carothers teaches management, marketing and business classes at SCC.

He is married to Pam Wilson Carothers, from Nancy, Ky. The Carothers recently adopted a 17-month-old son, Alex James, from Guatemala.

Donna Eastham started teaching at SCC in 2003. She earned her bachelor of science degree in Child and Family Studies from Eastern Kentucky University. Her masters degree in Inter-disciplinary Early Childhood Education is from Western Kentucky University.

Eastham lives in Science Hill. Her husband of 19 years, Craig, teaches American history at Somerset High School. They have two daughters, Lillie, who is 10 years old, and Clara, who is 4 years old.

She taught preschool in public schools. In all, she has taught for 21 years.

“I like what I do, but teaching at SCC,” Eastham said. “It has been a wonderful experience. The support from all those around me makes feel very fortunate.”

Margy Blankenship, health division chair at SCC, was honored as a Kentucky Colonel by the Physical Therapy Assistant Program for her support of their successful accreditation and program.

Musical presentations were provided by Mira Roxanne Spangler-Baker, Karen Grant and Johnna Atkinson-Bigelow.

Other awards included:

Education: Outstanding Academic Achievement, Cassandra Haste; Quest for Knowledge, Charlotte Thompson; Honors Graduate, Angelica Young; 110% IECE, Angela Singleton and Deborah Vaughn

Cosmetology: Kentucky SkillsUSA Competition, Leslie Edwards, first place, Nail Care; Kim Farley, first place, Cosmetology; Whitney Gambrell, first place, Make-Up; Cilia Rains, first place, Talent; Miranda Swafford, first place, Leadership; Outstanding Academic Achievement, Megan Ball, Jennifer Owens, Joni Upchurch and Angela Wooldridge; Outstanding Senior Award, Karen Morgan and Connie Smothers;

Business Administration: Outstanding Academic Achievement, Felix Jones, Donald Lindsay and Jimmy Warren

Machine Tool Technology: Excellence, Kevin Taylor

Medical Assisting: Outstanding Academic Achievement, Sandra Coffey, Patricia Davidson and Loretta Reedy

SCC Student Ambassadors: Outstanding Leadership, Bridget Barnett, Ronina Bradshaw, Pamela Bray, DeLyla Bunch, Joshua Faust, Carmen Fields, Kristopher Godby, Bethany Gosser, Colleen Guffey, Felix Hibbard Jr., Cassandra Hyden, Angela Jobe, James Owens, Larry Shreiner Sr., Greg Stogsdill and Angela Thornton

Clinical Laboratory Technician: Outstanding Academic Achievement, Ashley Mann

Criminal Justice: Outstanding Academic Achievement, Jordan Neikirk, Timothy Shadoan, Angela Hubbard, Kirk Mays and Charlotte McConaha; Student of the Year Somerset Campus, Betsy Nicholas; Student of the Year Laurel Campus (Co-Award), Jamie Osborne and Robin Renee Owens

History: Outstanding Academic Achievement, Vince Gordon Frantz and Travis Martin

Radiography: Outstanding Academic Achievement, Terri Conley, Crystal Cowden, Robert Howard, II, Lyndsay Owens; Program Advocate, Ronina Bradshaw

Surgical Technology: Outstanding Academic Achievement, Tiffany Cooper and Laurel Montgomery

Who’s Who Among American Community College Students: Outstanding Academic Achievement, Misty Adkins, Michael David Burchfield, Jamie L. Cain, David Robert William Evans, Bethany Gosser, Jacqualine Henson, Angela Jobe, Monica Kamelia Marshall, Jenny Darlene Martin, Isaac R. Mills, Betsy A. Nicholas, Robin Renee Owens, Trevor James Perry, Kristine Elizabeth Petrey, Chasity Dawn Sanders, John R. Wainscott and Amanda Marie Zulager

Scholarship Awards: Richard E. and Cornelia Cooper Endowed Scholarship, Crystal Sue Alcorn; Helen Cornele Memorial Scholarship, Ginger Lee Asberry; State Representative Leonard Hislope Memorial Scholarship, Ellen Michell Baker; Lake Cumberland Regional Hospital Volunteer Auxiliary Scholarship, Samantha J. Benedict and Lisa Beth Staton; Brown Nursing Scholarship, Tammy Jean Binder; Terry Norfleet Scholarship, Stephanie Lee Bowling, Angela Jobe and Emily B. Wesley; John T. Smith Scholarship, Ronina Lavon Bradshaw, Tony Lovell Brown, George Alexander Johnson, Lindsey M. Wood and Angela F. Wooldridge; KCTCS Presidential Scholarship, Nathan K. Bennett, Ashley Nichole Bryant, Li Chen, Elizabeth A. Cowan, Kyle A. Curry and Sylvania LeAnn Wright; Mattie Helen Elliott Scholarship, Amy Marie Cash, Amanda L. Stephens and Rachel L. Thompson; Elliott Family Trust Scholarship, Bradley Alexander Caudill, Maegan Rae-Dawn Edwards, Terri L. Peavey and Cory Wesley; Benny Ham Memorial Scholarship, James Daniel Clark; KCTCS Commonwealth Scholarship, Keri Cox, David S. Eller, Derek S. Hicks and Nathan H. Hodge; Gear-Up Scholarship, Tasha Renee Crabtree; Ernest Gadberrry Endowed Fund Scholarship, Samuel M. Festian, Emily LeReaia Stephens and Charles Lyle Warner; SCC Presidential Roger Scholars Scholarship, Emily G. Lane; Educational Opportunity Center Scholarship, Karen Kay Luttrell; Roscoe Kelley Memorial Scholarship, Jeremy A. Napier; Charlie M. Isaacs Scholarship, Telvis M. Richardson; Lillie Thorne Spradlin Memorial Scholarship, Stephen D. Smith; Richie/Cooper Scholarship Endowment, Kristy K. Sneed; Owens Nursing Scholarship, Sarah M. Ware

Psychology: Outstanding Academic Achievement, Daisy McCune, Michelle Ratliff and Alicia Simpson

Phi Theta Kappa, USA Today, American Association of Community Colleges All-USA Academic Team: Bethany Gosser, Jenny Darlene Martin and David Robert William Evans

Economics/Statistics: Outstanding Academic Achievement, Andreas Bilz

Engineering Technology: Outstanding Academic Achievement, Freddie Stephen Mitchell, Saun Douglas Buis, Eric L. Taylor, Robert Gerald Branscum, Mark Garland, Steve Edwin Nicholson and Timothy Jones

Physical Therapy 2007 Assistant Program: American Physical Therapy Associate Student of the Year Award, Bethany Gosser; Outstanding PTA Student Organization Member, Bethany Gosser;

PTA Community Service Award, Bethany Gosser; 2008 APTA Student of the Year Award, Isaac Mills; Total Rehab Award for Outstanding Second-Year Student Award, Emmett Mastin; Outstanding PTA Student Mentor Award, Kenny Catron; James H. Andersen Award for Outstanding First-Year PTA Student, Rod Edwards; and SCC Karate Club Outstanding Member Award, John Wainscott.