Several Maryville College teacher candidates have been recognized as Smoky Mountain Teachers of Promise, an honor that highlights outstanding pre-service educators across the region and affirms their readiness to enter the profession with skill, purpose, and a passion for molding young minds.

This year’s Maryville College honorees — all seniors, including Meredith Wynn ’26 of Maryville, Stan Pennington ’26 of Sevierville, Malea Williams ’26 of Maryville, Allyson Crowley Cogdill ’26 of Maryville and Laura Diamond ’26 of Maryville — participated in the annual Smoky Mountain Teachers of Promise Summit, a multi-day professional development experience that brings together emerging educators and award-winning mentors from across the country.

Candidates recognized as Teachers of Promise are nominated by their institutions for their “all around excellence,” said Dr. Alesia Orren, professor of education who accompanied the students to the summit, which took place April 10 and 11 in Kodak, Tennessee. “This recognition indicates the respect, trust, and optimism placed in these future teachers to impact posterity through their work in education.”

“They were all so kindhearted and really reflected the real effect that teachers have on their students,” she said. “Teaching is not always highly regarded despite its mass importance. The Smoky Mountain Teachers of Promise Summit seeks to find those outstanding educators and ensure that their efforts are rewarded, and that is absolutely how I felt at the summit.”

Wynn, who completed her student teaching at Maryville High School, said the experience of working directly with students confirmed her calling.

“Getting to work with these kids and see them blossom as not only actors and technicians but as people has really solidified my decision to be an educator,” she said.

For Pennington, a History major with Secondary Education licensure from Seymour, Tennessee, the recognition served as both a milestone and a reminder of his growth … in more ways than one. The summit’s keynote speaker was Eugene Naughton, president of the Dollywood Foundation and treasurer for the organization’s Imagination Library, which sends free books to children whose families sign up.

“I went to shake his hand, and I told him that I used to receive books from the Imagination Library,” Pennington said. “He seemed so overjoyed at that fact, and I ended up getting a small recognition as the speaker overheard me and told the entire event that I had received said books. It was an amazing moment that I will never forget.”

Pennington completed his student teaching at Heritage Middle School, where he taught eighth-grade U.S. history (under alumnus educator Justin Bush ’16).

“I think the most valuable thing I got out of my student teaching was the real-world experience,” he said. “It prepared me for my future career and also gave me some extra confidence that I can really be a good teacher in the future.”

Malea Williams, an Elementary Education major from Carlsbad, California, who now lives in Maryville, Tennessee, is already stepping into the role full-time. Serving as an interim kindergarten teacher during her student teaching practicum, she said the experience underscored both the responsibility and the reward of the profession.

“I think there is such value in providing students with a good education,” she said. “Some students come to school relying on their school to feed them and provide them with a sense of hope for their future. To get to be a part of that is such a powerful yet humbling experience.”

Williams has since accepted a first-grade teaching position with Blount County Schools, and on the cusp of stepping into the role for which she’s prepared since first coming to Maryville College, she credits that accomplishment to the intense preparation provided by the MC Division of Education.

The summit itself provided more than recognition — it offered meaningful professional development and connection. Students collaborated with Milken Educator Award recipients, participated in targeted training sessions, and were honored during a formal ceremony recognizing their achievements with certificates, pins, and medallions.

“It is meaningful for candidates to be recognized as a Teacher of Promise because it validates the time, energy and effort they so tirelessly devote to their profession,” Orren said. “It also builds confidence and inspires them to trust that their decision to enter the field is a worthwhile and consequential vocational choice.”

Orren noted that this year’s cohort of Maryville College students shares a deep commitment to the field.

“This year’s group, in particular, demonstrates an unwavering commitment to and passion for the field of education,” she said. “They understand the gravity of their charge and accept it with enthusiasm.

“I firmly believe our teacher candidates at Maryville College, including those recognized as Teachers of Promise, are motivated by compassion, caring, and doing good and are destined to impact their future students and communities.”

Maryville College is a nationally ranked institution of higher learning and one of America’s oldest colleges, located in Maryville, Tennessee, between the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the city of Knoxville. Maryville College offers more than 60 majors, seven pre-professional programs and career preparation from their first day on campus to their last, in the words of our Presbyterian founder, to “do good on the largest possible scale.”

Karen Eldridge, Executive Director of Communications: karen.eldridge@maryvillecollege.edu.

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