Keyle Hawk, a senior Early Childhood Education major, knew from a young age that she wanted to work with children, but she wasn’t always sure what direction to take. In high school, a mission trip to Guatemala afforded her the opportunity to teach English at an orphanage, which changed her perspective.

During her time at Ohio University, Keyle has immersed herself in several teaching and leadership endeavors. As Vice President of the Students in Early Childhood Education Organization (SECO) on campus, she volunteers in the Athens City School District and fundraises on behalf of children in need.

Cindy Saunders, an Early Childhood Education alumna (2003), was recently selected to participate in the Epic Master Teacher Ambassador Program, and as such, is The Patton College’s June Alum of the Month. Saunders, a first-grade teacher at Berne Union Elementary in Columbus was chosen out of hundreds of applicants spanning 37 states and 20 countries. Program organizers say she was selected after instilling a love of reading and learning in her students.

The Patton College would like to recognize Jessica Embry as May’s honorary Alum of the Month. She was a graduate of the College of Fine Arts, and for the past nine years she was a fine arts teacher and the orchestra director at Eugene Ashley High School in in the New Hanover County School District just outside Wilmington, N.C. On April 18, Embry died after heroically helping to save two children who were struggling in a rip current in the Atlantic Ocean near Kure Beach.