Class Notes

Risa Stein, PhD has earned a Master's degree in Organizational Leadership from the Rockhurst University's Helzberg School of Management in Kansas City, MO. Risa has also published a self-guided therapy workbook entitled the Best Damn Life Workbook. It is available on Amazon.

is President of Puget Sound Pipe Organs in Stanwood, Washington. There, they refurbish the organs and give them renewed life and reliability for much longer than any digital or electronic imitation. They also specialize in organ, chest, regulator, bellows releathering and renewing any portion of the organ to return it to good service. Their special expertise is in older organs particularly of the 19th and early 20th century.

joined the Capital Financial Group, LLC. in 2009. Chelse works primarily with pharmacists and other medical professionals in Eastern Tennessee. She understands the financial pressures and concerns her clients’ have and is especially attuned to helping them develop strategies and solutions for budgetary constraints, risk management, and appropriate investments as well as concerns such as debt repayment, saving for retirement, and college. She is well versed in the areas of life, disability income, and long term care insurance in addition to investments which in turn help her focus on comprehensive financial planning. Chelse puts forth every effort to earn the trust and respect of her clients. Her love of helping individuals, meeting new people, and constructing effective plans allows her to develop strong relationships with clients for the long term. Chelse has been seen on WBIR-TV answering questions about Financial Issues and is a candidate for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Women of the Year. .

is currently working at Carpenter’s Middle School now as a teacher’s aide in Special Education.

Aaron is in the early stages of work on Doctorate of Musical Arts in Music Education at Boston University online.

has retired from First Rate, Inc. in Arlington, TX where he served as the corporate chaplain from 2005 to 2018. They are building a house in Santa Rosa Beach that should be completed in August 2018.

Mindy Stooksbury, has been promoted to Vice President of CBBC Bank. She joined the bank in December, 2015, and assumed the role of Controller. Mindy currently volunteers with Junior Achievement teaching Economics for Success and has previously served in many capacities with United Way of Blount County. She is a graduate of William Blount High School, Maryville College and Lincoln Memorial University. Mindy resides in Louisville with her husband Joel and their daughter Ava.

Derrick was recently promoted to the Education and Horticultural Therapy Program Administrator at the University of Tennessee Gardens. He was awarded the Rhea McCandliss Professional Service Award from the American Horticultural Therapy Association (AHTA) in 2016 and served on the Board of Directors for AHTA from 2016-2018. He has developed horticultural therapy programs programs for a wide variety of audiences in the Knoxville, TN area.

Derrick received his Ph.D. in Plant Soil and Environmental Science from the University of Tennessee in 2020. He created an launched the first undergraduate certificate program at the University of Tennessee in 2022. The program is the The University of Tennessee Horticultural Therapy Certificate Program. It is an online certificate program and is accredited by the American Horticultural Therapy Association. Derrick received adjunct assistant professor status at the University of Tennessee in 2021. He received the 2022 Horticultural Therapy Award from the American Horticultural Society. He is the 2022 president of the American Horticultural Therapy Association. He has published multiple articles on the use of horticulture as therapy and was able to assist the Caribbean Community-Based Rehabilitation Network in developing horticultural therapy programs through a collaboration with the United States Agency on International Development & Partners of the Americans Farmer to Farmer Program.

Miranda and her husband Charlie moved back to Maryville this Summer. They are excited to reconnect with MC friends and family and to once again become active on both the campus and in the community.

Prior to the 2016-2017 academic year, Blount County Schools named Kim Koehl Sullivan ’98 as principal at Walland Elementary School. She completed a Masters Degree in Instructional Leadership and an Educational Specialist Degree in Educational Leadership from Lincoln Memorial University.

An Ursuline Sister of Mount Saint Joseph in Maple Mount, Ky., who earned a degree from Maryville College prior to entering religious life, is celebrating an anniversary of religious profession in 2022.

Sister Sharon Sullivan is celebrating 40 years as an Ursuline Sister. She was born in Austin, Texas, raised in Houston, but her family moved to Owensboro, Ky., when she was 13. Prior to becoming an Ursuline Sister, she earned a bachelor’s degree in history from Maryville College in 1969.

She also earned an associate degree from Christian College in 1967, an elementary and special education teacher certification from Brescia College (Owensboro, Ky.) in 1975, and a master’s degree in education from Western Kentucky University in 1982. She earned her doctorate in special education from Purdue University in 1993.

Most of her ministry has been at Brescia College/University. She served as director of residential life (1984-87), professor of education and special education (1987-90, 1993-2009, 2017-present), chairwoman of the Social and Behavioral Studies Division (1999-2004), chairwoman of the School of Education (2004-2007) and coordinator of special education (1999-2007, 2017-present). She was academic dean and vice president for Academic Affairs (2007-2010).

From 2010-16, Sister Sharon served as the congregational leader for the Ursuline Sisters. Today, she continues to serve in special education at Brescia.

Jubilee congratulations may be sent to 8001 Cummings Road, Maple Mount, KY 42356.

received a 2014 Spirit of Good Neighbors lifetime achievement award for her work with Blount County Good Neighbors, which she started in 1996 and served as director for nine years.

Maryville budget director appointed to national committee City of Maryville Management and Budget Director Kristine Tallent has been appointed to serve on the 25-member Government Finance Officers Association Committee on Governmental Debt Management. Tallent is one of four appointees in the class of 2019, GFOA President Marc Gonzales announced. She was selected from a pool of applicants based upon the potential members’ fields of expertise, related experience and size and type of governmental unit. “I am honored and truly humbled to have been selected to serve on the GFOA Debt Committee,” Tallent told The Daily Times on Friday. “As the only new appointee from the Southeast, as well as my having served as staff to both large urban and more suburban communities, I look forward to the opportunity to bring the financial perspective of local governments similar to the city of Maryville to the committee.” The GFOA Committee on Governmental Debt Management promotes sound financial practices for local, state and provincial governments. The committee works on best practices, actively engages participants in the market to help develop guidelines and updates for its members, and monitors legislative and regulatory activities that impact the ability of state and local governments to continue borrowing in an effective manner. “Kristine’s appointment to this national committee charged with providing sound financial practices for local and state governments is a perfect fit with her expertise,” said City Manager Greg McClain. “Her work on the city of Maryville’s debt has been outstanding. She led the effort beginning in 2007 to eliminate variable rate debt and shorten long-term debt obligations. Her knowledgeable steadfast approach to these efforts is expected to achieve more than $28 million in interest savings over the life of the debt.” Started with city in 2007 Hired by the city of Maryville in 2007, Tallent previously served as budget director for Gwinnett County, Ga., where she administered an annual budget of $1.6 billion and a long-term debt portfolio of $1 billion. She began her career with a national financial advisory firm coordinating issuance of municipal bond transactions and developing long-term capital plans for state and local governments. Tallent earned a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Maryville College and a Master of Science in Public Policy and Management with a concentration in Public Finance from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pa. A member of the Tennessee Government Finance Officers Association since 2007, Tallent is the legislative representative for the association and a member of its Executive and Program Committees. Locally she serves on the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors of Maryville College, where she is also chair of the Building and Grounds Committee. Tallent also is chair of the Finance Committee for First United Methodist Church of Maryville. For more information about the GFOA and the debt committee, visit www.gfoa.org. http://m.thedailytimes.com/news/maryville-budget-director-appointed-to-national-committee/article_2d77ff5a-705c-5ecb-8e30-606d75b457e9.html?mode=jqm

was installed as moderator of the Presbytery of West Kentucky on February 10, 2015. Her mother, Ellen Macrae Pierce, class of 1933, was installed as the first women moderator of the same Presbytery in 1974.

began work as an Outpatient Therapist at Ridgeview Psychiatric Hospital in December 2014.

Graduated with a Master’s of Science in Occupational Therapy from Milligan College in 2014. Now works as an OTR.

Saray Taylor-Roman ’08, a Knoxville-based portrait photographer won 1st place in Teen & Senior category at The 2019 Portrait Masters Awards. Out of 8609 worldwide entries, she took the top six spots. This year she earned a total of 10 silver awards in three different portrait categories. It’s important to mention that only 2% of all entries received a silver award. Each images is judged anonymously by a panel of 11 international photography judges. Then, their scores are averaged, and the images are ranked. Saray received her Associate’s with The Portrait Masters in 2017. And in the summer of 2018, she was one of five photographers worldwide to receive their Master’s Accreditation. What set her apart was the fact that she reached her Masters with all silver awards. As of now, no other photographer with The Portrait Masters Accreditation can claim to have done the same. Currently Saray is working to achieve her Grand Masters title by the end of this year. Her clients, both abroad and local, can’t say enough about the images she creates for them. Check out her Google Reviews Page. Saray is a Maryville College graduate, a board member of teh MC Alumni Association, a first-generation immigrant, and has called Knoxville home for the last 14 years. She is involved in her local church and loves to volunteer around town. She graduated in 2008 with a double degree in Education and International Studies, was a recipient of the Dean Award several times as well as one the top 4 Seniors of her class. She took a couple of photography courses at Maryville College. And this video shows an excerpt from the Awards Ceremony this year held in Los Angeles, CA. https://youtu.be/dMcfEZorJIU.

has been hired as an admissions completer for 2tor, a company that partners with preeminent institutions of higher education to deliver rigorous, selective degree programs online to students globally. Previously, she worked as an ethnographical researcher for Howard University’s Center of Urban Progress. She earned a master’s degree from Howard in 2011.

Joshua Terry ’11 was named the 12th head coach in the history of the Scott County High School Highlanders in Scott County, Tenn. He has spend the last six years on the Highlander’s staff and is also a social studies teacher at the school. Read more here: http://ihoneida.com/2018/03/06/terry-named-football-coach-at-scott-high/

In November 2020, Maddy Little (’17) and Joel Thornton (’16) were married in a small ceremony on the Isle of Palms, SC. Many Maryville College friends and alumni traveled from all over to celebrate with the happy couple who initially met on their first day of Orientation at MC in late summer of 2012.

is currently an attorney practicing with Leibowitz Law Firm, PLLC in Knoxville, TN.

let the College know that at the end of summer he and his wife, Janna Eerenberg Tinley ’71 made two trips. The first was a sibling get together in El Paso Texas where his older sister lives. His younger sister Alice came up from Mexico City. Paul, his younger brother was up from Peru. In September they visited parts of Canada. Since Janna likes rail travel, they took the train from New York to Montreal. They then the 23 hour VIA compartment train to Halifax. Small compartment! They very much enjoyed the week of driving around Nova Scotia and Cape Brenton Island. They took the “easy way” back by flying back to Jacksonville, Florida.