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Distinguished Alumni Award
 Sedalia author and retired State Fair Community College writing instructor Debbie Noland has received the college’s 2008-2009 Distinguished Alumni Award.A 1972 graduate of SFCC, Noland was honored Friday night at the college’s 40th anniversary commencement ceremony in the Fred E. Davis Multipurpose Center on campus. She has chaired the college’s 40th anniversary steering committee for its yearlong celebration in 2008-2009. Noland, 56, taught writing for 29 years at SFCC, retiring in 2004. In 2002 she wrote “The Legacy of Plywood U: A History of State Fair Community College 1966-2002.” She was named instructor of the year at SFCC in 1989, and in 1993 received the Governor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching. Noland said she was “surprised and deeply honored” when told she had received the award. “I had been thinking hard about graduation anyway because we were inviting the class of 1970 back,” said Noland. “I had wondered if we could get the speaker to acknowledge the class of 1970 and to comment on the 40th anniversary. I never imagined it would turn out this way!
“I treasure my experience at the community college—all of it—but especially my student years. To be honored as an alumna reinforces for me the special nature of my relationship with the college.”
Noland said she is most proud of the 40th anniversary activities that will help preserve the college’s heritage: a monument on the site of the original Plywood U, and the establishment of an archive where people can bring memorabilia and it will be organized and available for future generations to see and use. “I’m also proud of things we were able to do that involved so many people in the community, like the bookmark project in which different groups constructed over 7,000 bookmarks featuring college trivia that were distributed to elementary schools in our district,” she said. “It was a months-long enterprise, and it was thrilling to see that level of involvement from so many people.” Many anniversary activities also brought the “old and new” college families together, she said. “The last charter faculty person who was there when the doors opened in 1968 has retired; the people there are now entirely new,” said Noland. “Some reunion-type things we did made each group better aware of the other, and brought them together in ways that were gratifying to see.” Noland graduated cum laude in 1974 from Central Missouri State University in Warrensburg with a Bachelor of Science degree in Education–communication. In 1977 she received a Master of Science degree in Education–English, and in 1979 an Education Specialist degree in English, both from CMSU. She completed additional study at CMSU, at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and at Missouri State University in Springfield. She taught at Northwest High School in Hughesville from 1974-75, then taught courses in the departments of Language and Mass Communication, Developmental Education and Fine Arts at SFCC from 1975 until her retirement. She designed and taught the college’s first course in technical writing in both the traditional classroom setting and for Interactive Television (I-TV). “Debbie has been a part of the college for 38 of its 40 years,” said Jackie Almquist, director of development and executive director of the SFCC Foundation. “She has lived its history, and is an advocate for our cause and an educator of and for our community. Her commitment to education and her unyielding passion for SFCC students made her the optimal candidate for this prestigious award.” Noland’s writing skills extend far beyond the college. Her essay “Tractor Parts” appears in Exposures: Essays by Missouri Women. From 1990-92 she wrote a weekly column called “About Town” for The Sedalia Democrat and published an instructional article “Let Your Students See You Write” in the Missouri English Bulletin. She was a featured poet May 3 at the 2009 Montserrat Poetry Festival, reading from a self-published children’s book, Sweet Dreams: A Bedtime Rhyme, illustrated by Billi Bracken Brown. Other poetry credits include Ozark Review, The Thornleigh Review, Envy’s Sting, Jordan Creek Anthology, Turtle Magazine for Preschool Kids, Humpty Dumpty’s Magazine, The Cape Rock, Beyond Doggerel, and, most recently, several pieces in the Mid-America Poetry Review. She is working on Rustic Seasons, a collection of haiku, and Throw the Rock, a lifetime poetry collection. Since her retirement, she also has served as an adjunct instructor in College Skills for SFCC and in Technical Writing for Central Methodist University.
Noland met her husband, Gary, current president of the SFCC Board of Trustees, in the northeast wing of Plywood U in April 1976. They married in 1981. Both their children, Krista, 27, and Tim, 23, attended SFCC. She sees the college as a “survivor,” she says. “I’m never on campus that I don’t just look around in awe at what it looks like now, especially at night with the lights,” she said. “When I wrote Legacy, it was almost like writing about a person who faces all these struggles and conflicts and rises above them to survive … I look at the campus and respect the ‘person’ the college is, how it has touched so many and made such a tremendous difference in their lives. When I look ahead to the 50-year mark, I feel confident SFCC will continue to be a survivor. I’m so proud to have been associated with it.” Noland told graduates that one of the most important skill sets they can learn is how to adapt to change. “Change is inevitable and uncomfortable, but it can yield positive outcomes,” she said. “Driving past a church marquee, I saw a slogan that read, ‘You can’t change the wind, but you can adjust the sail.’ The winds are going to blow. They will rock your boat. It might even tip over. The lake may feel a little chilly. You may get tired of treading water. You may even get some water in your nose. But learn several different swimming strokes. Figure out how to float on your back. Invest in a good life jacket. Because, you know what? The luxury yacht that picks you up just may be for sale." |
Award InformationThe nomination deadline for the 2010 Distinguished Alumni Award is April 1, 2010. For award guidelines and to download a nomination form, click here. Past Winners1987 |
