College Graduate

SIUE
Tina Ashdown of Vandalia, second from right, graduated summa cum laude from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville in 2010.

She was on the dean’s list every semester and was nominated for the Prestigious Non-Traditional Student Award in 2009.  Her professor nominated her for the award, because she exhibited an encouraging and collaborative spirit in his classroom. Ashdown brought these qualities to her student teaching placement at Lincoln Middle School.  During the experience, education professionals from four different districts requested copies of five educational resources she created.
Ashdown is now an English teacher at St. Elmo Junior/Senior High School in St. Elmo, where she teaches English 1, English 2, English 3 and creative writing.