Students who say hard work pays off are the finalists for the Jacoby Award

Students who say hard work pays off are the finalists for the Jacoby Award

UCC awards student Kacy Buxton with The Jacoby Award, UCC’s highest award. This award is given at commencement each year to reward a student’s academic achievement and service to the college and the community. The winning student receives a $1000 check from the UCC foundation, a plaque that is presented by the UCC president and a medal as well.

Faculty members nominate students based on their criteria of scholastic achievement, college service and community service. The nominated students go to a committee made up of four to five members who consist of volunteer faculty, staff and administrators. These students are each asked to provide details of their coursework as a UCC student (the award requires rigorous study), their goals for their career or education and details of their community service.

Kacy Buxton is a full-time computer science major student who has also won an outstanding student award for the last three years for computer classes. Buxton’s achievements are merited to all of her dedication and passion for programming. 

“I always try to do my best, work hard, turn everything in on time and participate in class so I have the knowledge to do my best,” Buxton says.

Buxton is also the web editor for UCC’s student media, The Mainstream: “There’s an added bonus to working on The Mainstream because I get experience to learn new things and learn how to work better as a team.”

Her volunteer activities consist of helping church with their sound system, doing the slide show for worship at her church and helping the teachers in the children’s classrooms. When she has time, she also volunteers at the Riddle library. 

Buxton said she was very surprised and honored to be considered a nominee for the award.

“I don’t do anything spectacular,” she says; “it really inspires me to continue to work hard and to do my very best.”

Buxton’s future starts this fall at Eastern Oregon University online for her bachelor’s in computer science, and she says, “I might get my master’s to focus on more of a specific field … but we will see.” 

Buxton’s dream job is to program video games or to just work with programming in general.

Tammy Frank, an AAOT education student, was the runner up for the Jacoby Award. She has a full-time schedule as well with two jobs, one being a pharmacy technician and the other is working at Douglas Resident Training Facility working with disabled people. Frank is also an instructor at UCC teaching the pharmacy technician classes.

“I will be 48 in June, and I finally feel like I’m at a place in my life where I can go back to school, and it’s a good time for me to do what I want to do, especially since my children are grown,” Frank says.

Frank is grateful for UCC. She said that, if it wasn’t for them approaching her at her job being a pharmacy technician, she would have never gone back to school to do what she loves: teaching. UCC was looking for a teacher, and Frank has 20 years of experience under her belt as a technician. 

Frank is hoping to continue teaching the UCC pharmacy technician class after she transfers to Western University in Monmouth in the fall.

“Teaching is something I feel where I can help others,” Frank says. Her plans are to teach fourth grade classes while she is going to school for her master’s in special education.

Her volunteer activities and both of her jobs align with her plan to help others “All of these things are things I use to help the community or to help me become a better person,” Frank says. Frank is extremely grateful that she was considered to be a finalist for the Jacoby award, and she was also awarded the Ford Family Scholarship this year, she says, she has never won anything in her life.

The spring commencement ceremony was live streamed on June 11. The recording will be available on the UCC Facebook page if people wish to watch Buxton be awarded.

Contact me at:
UCCMainstream@yahoo.com

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