Chattanooga, TN --- Chattanooga State Community College has bestowed the highest honor given to Chattanooga State employees upon four faculty members and two staff members. Award winners are nominated and selected by their peers in the support staff association, the professional staff association, and the faculty senate. The 2012-2013 recipients of the Excellence Awards are Shawn Brabham, Karen Eastman, Charlotte Webb, Bob Hawfield, Vivian Sands, and Laura Young. The Chattanooga State Foundation sponsors the annual Excellence Awards and presents each of the recipients with $500.

Associate professor of English, Shawn Brabham, who has been at Chattanooga State since 2004, received the Advising Excellence Award. Brabham earned a Master of Arts degree from Tennessee Technological University in Medieval/Renaissance Literature as well as a B.A. from Middle Tennessee State University with a major in Medieval Literature and a double minor in Medieval History and Latin. Not only does she own a farm, she operates an all-breed animal rescue center where she currently cares for 31 chickens (and counting), five dogs, two cats, six horses, and a rabbit that will soon be joined by others to begin a rabbit business. Brabham also gardens and has an interest in medicinal herbs. Her son Patrick, 29, works as a construction foreman.

Karen Eastman is the recipient of the Teaching Excellence Award for Arts & Sciences. Eastman is an associate professor of Anatomy & Physiology (A&P). She received a B.S. in Biology: Pre-Med at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC). Eastman went on to earn a Doctorate of Chiropractic (D.C.) at Life University in Marietta, GA. She has completed course work for a Doctorate of Education (Ed.D.) from The Graduate School at UTC. She is currently working on completing her dissertation. Eastman has been a Chattanooga State faculty member for nine years, and the A&P lead teacher for eight years. Her husband, Chris, is a cardiac sonographer at Park Ridge Medical Center. He is also an A&P adjunct faculty member at Chattanooga State. Eastman and her husband love spending time in the outdoors, and are both actively involved at ChristWay Community Church in Ooltewah. They have two very spoiled dogs, Bella a rescued lab mix, and Rexie, a malti-poo mix. “What I like most about my job is being just a small part of my students' lives. Watching them learn, grow and develop a sense of self-worth and self-confidence is a beautiful thing to me,” adds Eastman.

Charlotte Webb was recognized for Teaching Excellence in Technology. She says, “I like knowing I have a part in the education of future quality registered nurses.” Webb is an assistant professor of Nursing, who earned a Master of Science in Nursing: Family Practice in 2009 from Southern Adventist University. She is an American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) board certified practitioner, who joined Chattanooga State’s faculty four and a half years ago. Webb is married to DeWayne Webb and they have four sons, Joshua, Jonesboro, TN; Andrew and his wife Nicole live in Johnson City; Nathan and Stephen both live in Dayton, TN. She attends the Soddy Daisy campus of Stuart Heights Baptist Church.

The Tennessee Technology Center (TTC) selected master instructor of Mathematics Bob Hawfield to receive the award for Teaching Excellence. He’s been with the college since 1983 helping TTC students with basic blue print reading and math courses from whole numbers to Trigonometry. “After, completing these courses, students say, I really learned a lot and it has already helped me in my everyday work. Thanks for all your help. I enjoy working with students and helping them obtain their goals,“ says Hawfield.  He earned both a Master of Mathematics from UTK in 1994 and a Bachelor of Science degree in 1979. He enjoys spending time with his family that includes his wife Anita and two daughters, Heather, 24 and Michelle, 22. Two dogs, Missy and Lady round out the family. In his spare time Hawfield plays tennis, works in his yard, and visits the beach.

The Support Staff Excellence award was presented to Vivian Sands, a technical clerk for Early College High School who has been with Chattanooga State for more than 22 years. She says her favorite part of the job is “meeting students and assisting them with their goals.’’ She will complete an associate degree from Chattanooga State in Office Management this spring.  She’s been married to her husband, Alces, for 19 years. Sands has two married daughters, NaTasha Twiggs and Lynnette Davenport. NaTasha, whose husband is named Marvin, has a master’s degree.  NaTasha also took classes at Chattanooga State along the way. Lynnette and her husband, Thaddeus, are both Chattanooga State graduates. Lynnette has a cosmetology certificate and Thaddeus completed the respiratory care program. Sands and her husband enjoy bike riding, cheering for the Dallas Cowboys football team, and spending time with their 12-year-old grandson, Nicholas. An active member of New United Missionary Baptist Church, she has served on the Usher Board, Media Ministry and Hospitality committee.

The Professional Staff award went to Laura Young. She undertook several challenging projects that led to her winning the award. Young created a series of videos that explain how to use reference books in the library’s law collection. In addition, she created an extensive digital archive of Chattanooga State history, Kolwyck Library history, and started archives of Dr. Catanzaro’s presidency. Through her efforts art exhibits, multicultural events, and community groups were brought to campus. She earned her Master of Science in Library Science degree (MSLS) from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Young, who retired as an assistant librarian in 2012 after more than 15 years with Chattanooga State, joins her husband Richard, who taught college and has two doctorate degrees, in retirement from a first career. She has been accepted as a student in Chattanooga State’s Massage Therapy program for fall. Richard makes hammered dulcimer hammers and plays several instruments. She plays the guitar and sings. They are both part of the Gospel Jam at Brainerd United Methodist Church. In their spare time they spend quality time with their cat, Tuffy.

In addition to the monetary reward from the Chattanooga State Foundation, all of the Excellence Award winners attended the League of Innovation Conference held in Dallas, TX in March 2013.