Nicholas Clifton named Carl ’63 & Jean McDonald Outstanding Senior at Maryville College
Nicholas Clifton, a senior elementary education major from Sylvania, Georgia, has been named the 2022 Carl ’63 & Jean McDonald Outstanding Senior at Maryville College.
The award is named in honor of MC alum Carl McDonald ’63 and his wife, Jean, who recently endowed the award — one of the most prestigious honors given a student. It recognizes a senior who has been active in a broad range of activities; who most exemplifies the “ideal” Maryville College graduate; and who has the potential to be an outstanding alumnus.
According to Dr. Alesia Orren, professor of elementary education at the College and Clifton’s advisor, he checks all of the prerequisites for the honor, which was given out at the 2022 Academic Awards ceremony on April 2.
“I first met Nick in March of 2019 when he showed up for his initial advising appointment during the spring of his first year,” Orren said in her introduction of Clifton as one of the award’s nominees. “I learned a bit about Nick at this initial meeting as he shared with me his dream ‘to become an elementary school teacher, preferably in grade 3, 4, or 5 in a low income, high need school’ — he was very specific.
“Though my initial encounter with Nick was brief and limited to a few ‘get-to-know-you’ questions, I knew even then that Nick Clifton was the kind of student who would leave a distinctive mark on the Maryville College Community and well beyond.”
Clifton recently completed his student teaching placement at Montvale Elementary School in the nearby Blount County Schools system, where he taught math to fourth- and fifth-graders and was noted by principal Donna Russell as an educator who always made time to offer “extra support and encouragement.”
In addition, Clifton is a former Newman Civic Fellow, as well as a current TRIO and Bonner Scholar. Former campus minister Anne McKee noted that during his four years at the College, Clifton accumulated more than 1,800 hours of service, many of which were completed at the Martin Luther King Jr. Center in nearby Alcoa, where he mentored children and teens in the after-school program.
He has also served as president of the Kappa Delta Pi Education Honor Society, as a member of the Tennessee Educators of Color Alliance and was named as an NEA Aspiring Educator. He’s been repeatedly recognized as a Maryville College Scholar-Athlete and currently serves as captain of the basketball team.
“Nicholas Clifton’s outstandingness has certainly been demonstrated through his many accomplishments and accolades,” Orren added. “But it is his humility, authenticity, strength of character, passion for children and sense of gratitude that make him especially deserving of this honor.”
Established by the Maryville College Alumni Association in 1974, the Outstanding Senior award recognizes those students whose overall record of academic achievement and participation in extracurricular activities stand out as most exemplary.
Only those seniors with a minimum grade point average of 3.0 are considered for nomination for the Outstanding Senior Award. A committee that includes student, faculty and staff representation is given the responsibility of choosing five finalists. Those finalists are invited to respond in writing to questions about their view of their future role as alumni of Maryville College, their goals for the future and their understanding of how the College has influenced them and helped shape those goals.
Other finalists for the award included Grant Agnew, a management major from Belfast, Tennessee; Rebecca Branton, a design major from Maryville; Sarah Cardell, an international studies major from Clinton, Tennessee; José Hernández Chávez, a business analytics major from Knoxville; and Chloe Hamlett, a writing communication major from Athens, Alabama.