Education
Education Alumni
Washington County School System named Angela Shelton, a1994 graduate of MHC, elementary education Teacher of the Year for 2010-11. Angela became a teacher because she "loves to work with children and watch them grown and learn." Currently a first grade teacher at Lamar School, she has also taught kindergarten during her seven years at Lamar.
Heidie Tomberlin Allison, 2001 MHC graduate, became the new principal at Barnardsville Elementary in the fall of 2010.
2010 Education Alumni of the Year
Administrator: Dr. Tony Tipton
Dr. Tipton is a 1984 Mars Hill College graduate, receiving a B.A. in Elementary Education. He continued his formal education with his M.A. and Ed.S. degrees earned at Western Carolina University (in 1988 and 1994, respectively), and his Ed.D. from East Tennessee State University in 2007. Tony has served schools in Yancey and Madison counties as a teacher and administrator. He is currently principal of Madison High School and was named the Wachovia Principal of the Year in 2010 for Madison County. He is married to Dr. Barbara Tipton (MHC 1981) and one of their three sons, Cody, is also an MHC alumnus.
Teacher: Karen Wilson Fox
Karen Fox earned her B.A. in Elementary Education from Mars Hill College in 1989 and began her teaching career in Yancey County Schools. She taught for a dozen years at Bald Creek Elementary before moving to South Toe Elementary, where she was named the county’s Teacher of the Year for the 2005-06 school year. She’s now back at Bald Creek as the school’s Exceptional Children’s Teacher. Karen achieved National Board Certification in 2003 and earned her M.A. in Special Education from Western Carolina University in 2005. She is active in professional and civic organizations, including serving on WCU’s Special Education Advisory Board; and as a volunteer with Family Support Network of NC, which helps families of children with disabilities. Karen is married to David Fox and has three children.
2009 Education Alumni of the Year
Administrator: Christiaan Ramsey
Christiaan Ramsey, principal of Mars Hill Elementary School, is a 1992 Mars Hill College graduate with a bachelor’s degree in music. He earned his Master of School Administration and Education Specialist at Western Carolina University, and is completing his Ed.D in Educational Leadership. He has spent his career in the Madison County school system, first as an elementary music specialist, then a middle school and high school band director, before moving to Mars Hill Elementary in 2004. He is active in several professional organizations and received several awards, including Madison County’s Teacher of the Year in 1993 and Principal of the Year in 2008. He and his wife Cheryl are members of North Point Bapist Church. Christiaan is a member of the choir and a quartet, and also a member of the Global Impact committee.
Teacher: Shirley Rhodes Young
Shirley Rhodes Young received her bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Mars Hill College in 1974 (leading the way for her mother, class of 1975, and her sister, class of 1978, who also completed their degrees at MHC). She has taught at Emma Elementary in Asheville for 33 years, and currently is a first grade teacher. She is an active member of the North Carolina Association of Educators, serving now as treasurer of the Buncombe County chapter. She and husband George have one son and are members of St. John Church of God Holiness, where Shirley is church secretary, a Sunday School teacher, choir member, and reporter for the church book.