HOMECOMING AWARDS
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UMNAA Honors Alumni Achievement stallation of the association’s new officers and directors and recognition of retiring members.
During this year’s Homecoming celebration themed 20/20 Vision: Eye on the Future, the UM National Alumni Association honored three alumni for their outstanding contributions to the community. The honorees received their awards in front of a full house in Anna Irvin Dining Hall during the Saturday Homecoming Recognition Luncheon. The luncheon also served as the UMNAA’s annual business meeting and included the in-
20 | Montevallo Today
Ricardo Conte The Nathalie Molton Gibbons Young Achiever’s Award is given to an alumnus younger than 35 whose early career and community contributions have reflected positively at the local, state or national level. This year’s recipient was Ricardo Conte ’12, an earth and space science teacher at Simmons Middle School in Hoover. Conte’s passion and dedication in the classroom has gained attention statewide, and he was chosen to be a part of the 2019 sixth grade curriculum update team for Alabama’s A+ College Ready program. During the summer months, he utilizes his summer vacations to assist in the training of other earth science teachers across the state. Conte earned the prestigious Outstanding Earth and Space Science Teacher 2019 award for the state of Alabama from the National
Association of Geoscience Teachers, which recognizes “exceptional contributions to the stimulation of interest in the earth sciences at the pre-college level.” He earned the Shelby County Schools’ First Year Teacher of the Year honor in 2013 and received the UM Outstanding Alumnus in Elementary Education award for 2014-2015. Dr. Rebecca Turner Dr. Rebecca Turner ’71 was awarded the 2020 Nathalie Molton Gibbons Alumni Achievement Award. She has decades of experience as a social work practitioner, educator and higher education administrator. Turner retired in 2019 after nearly 40 years at Jacksonville State University where she most recently served as provost and vice president of academic affairs. She is a lifetime member of the Council on Social Work Education and the Associa-
