Colonel Notes
signed a six-year, $50 million 2010s contract with the Ravens. Ryan Donegan (BS ’10) has Caitlin Morris Bacon (BS been promoted as senior mar’09, BSN ’11) is a labor and keting producer for WBRZ delivery nurse at Terrebonne News 2 in Baton Rouge. He General Medical Center in is the youngest person the Houma. station has ever hired in this capacity. He produces on-air Brandon Champagne (BFA image promotions, including ’09) helps promote local art in writing, shooting, directing Houma through his creation and editing. He previously of Art Versus, an exhibition worked as the station’s spethat features artists’ work for cial projects and marketing up to three months. coordinator, overseeing community service, social media Thomas Duplantis (BS ’09) and contests. was promoted to assistant controller at Teche Regional Jesse Gautreaux (BSN ’10) Medical Center in Morgan is an emergency room nurse City. He previously served as a at Lady of the Sea General staff accountant for two years. Hospital in Cut Off. Jamie Folse Geesling (BA ’09) is a park ranger at Coronado National Memorial Park in southern Arizona. She is also a substitute teacher in Sierra Vista, Ariz., having earned a master’s degree in writing and linguistics at Northwestern State University. Amy Shows (BS ’09) earned a master’s degree in occupational therapy from the University of St. Augustine in August 2011. She works as an occupational therapist at Ochsner Medical Center in New Orleans.
Rachal Sollie (BS ’10) teaches second grade at Escuela Internacional La Lima, an English school in La Lima, Honduras. She previously taught at Max Charter School in Thibodaux. Since moving to Honduras in July, she has met two other Nicholls alumni who are parents of her students.
Jeremy Breaux (BFA ’11) received the Carriage House Paper Merchandise Award for fourth place at the Fifth National Collegiate Handmade Paper Art Triennial, held at Rutgers in New Jersey. His winning pulp painting will Kimberly Detillier be exhibited at the Corcoran Westmoreland (BS ’09) College of Art + Design in received a certification in Washington, D.C., in fall 2012. lymphatic therapy through the Norton School of LymSarah Thibodeaux (BA ’11) phatic Therapy in St. Louis. is the digital sales manager at She is a licensed massage the Houma Courier and Daily therapist at Essentials Hair & Comet. Massage in Lockport. Mallory Vedros (BS ’11) is a staff accountant at Bourgeois Bennett, a CPA firm in Houma.
Tobey Sullivan Naquin (AS, BS ’01, MEd ’11) assists fifth-grader Faith Simon, 10, with her Colonel Chat session at South Thibodaux Elementary School. The sessions give students one-on-one time with education majors and provide them with technological experiences.
Teacher champions
TECH TUTORING Tobey Sullivan Naquin (AS, BS ’01, MEd ’11) had the opportunity to make a lot of money after earning her bachelor’s degree. Her family owns Always In Mind Inc., a local company that distributes promotional products and manages safety-recognition programs. But joining the family business wasn’t what the Thibodaux native wanted to do. “I’ve always had a passion for nurturing and teaching kids,” the South Thibodaux Elementary School teacher says. “That’s my ability, and that’s my purpose — to light a spark in students.” When Naquin returned to Nicholls as a graduate student, she created a program called Colonel Chat as her capstone project in the educational technology leadership program. A partnership between South Thibodaux Elementary and the Nicholls College of Education, the one-on-one video chats use webcams and free Internet software to provide virtual reading tutorials for fifth-graders. Without leaving the Nicholls campus, undergraduate education students gain field experience by leading the Web tutoring sessions. “The kids absolutely love it,” Naquin says. The
“To see their faces light up, to see how quickly they learn, is wonderful. Plus, we’ve noticed a definite increase in test scores with the fifthgraders who participated.” Colonel Chat has expanded to include partnerships with three local schools, and Dr. Cynthia Vavasseur, assistant professor of education, says she plans to add more schools to the program each semester. As she watches her project grow, Naquin is equally impressed with the technological savvy and dedication of the Nicholls students on the other end of the communication network. It’s often difficult for teachers to provide their students with oneon-one attention, so Colonel Chat provides the opportunity for students to interact with their own tutor, who can assess their individual academic needs and adjust accordingly. Naquin’s son, a straight-A student, took part in a Colonel Chat session and was quickly identified by his Nicholls tutor as a student who needed additional academic challenges. The tutor provided those challenges on the spot, without preparation, Naquin says. “I knew immediately; that tutor was definitely in the right field,” she says. — Graham Harvey
COLONEL SPRING 2012
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