PR2005 Aug 1

NEWS BRIEF

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August 1 2005

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Wendy Jones 205-391-2310

wjones@sheltonstate.edu

Student Profile: Valencia Winston

When Valencia Winston decided to spend her summer enrolled in career technology courses at Shelton State Community College in Tuscaloosa she had just completed her second year as a teacher at Tuscaloosa Middle School.

As a teacher in “Career Discoveries,” Winston led a hands-on course designed to introduce students to some of the latest technological equipment being used in the world today. To enhance her teaching skills, she enrolled in Shelton State’s summer classes in Robotics, Basic AC/DC Machines, Construction and a “Special Topics” course.

“I really wanted to gain more knowledge in these fields so I could adequately teach them,” said Winston. But when she completes her summer studies she will be moving to the Tuscaloosa Center for Technology to teach Television Production.

The new job is a natural fit since she obtained her B.A. degree in Telecommunications from Alabama A&M University in Huntsville in 1991 and will begin her master’s degree in Career Technologies this fall.

Winston spent 10 years based in Atlanta as a marketing and sales representative for Sony/BMG records. To promote the label’s artists and concerts, she traveled the southeast working with musicians like Kenny Chesney, Alan Jackson, Toni Braxton and and most closely with R&B singer Usher. “It was a lot of fun but when I became a mother, life on the road just wasn’t what I wanted anymore,” said Winston.

As Valencia Winston prepares to begin a new school year at Tuscaloosa Center for Technology, her summer experience at Shelton State Community College has helped the Tuscaloosa native meet the requirements of the “No Child Left Behind” act as a highly qualified teacher.