Sandhills Community College holds induction ceremony to honor society

Many adult basic education students at Sandhills Community College were recently inducted into the National Adult Education Honor Society (NAEHS). The group was created nationally to provide meaningful recognition to deserving adult education students, to improve student employment opportunities, to develop student ambassadors for local adult education programs and to create adult education awareness with school administrators and state legislators.

“This is a great moment in time to celebrate these students who have persevered in their lives to further their education and livelihoods,” said Matthew Thewes, Director for the College and Career Readiness Program. “These students are busy working adults who wish to achieve greater heights on their career journeys and in life. Our staff is committed to ensure they get all the preparation and training they need to be even more successful.”

Sandhills Community College students honored from the region included:

Adam James Burgeson

Kinsey Jean Gautier

Anaestrella Ariza Grande

Lazaro Jose Muniz Borge

Andrew Lee Longinett

Maria Elvira Bello

Ange Deka Matonda

Maria Mireles

Audrey Elise Dunstan

Maurice Juliannys Rodriguez Marval

Bushra Ayedh

Melissa Cortez Munoz

Cristina Lucero Ramirez

Noelia Gomez Celestino

Dora Bantey

Patrick Shane Oxendine

Fatima del Carmen Munoz Contreras

Rabeaa Ali Salem Mohamed

Jacob Lawer Bantey

Svitlana Vdovenko

Kevin Lynn Shephard Jr

Teresa Linares Bautista

Kiersten Elizabeth Welton

Sandhills Community College’s College and Career Readiness department was granted a Membership Charter on October 19, 2018. Student received a lapel pin and certificate for attributes that made them a committed student such as going the extra mile, being early to class, asking questions, having good attendance, doing their homework and participating in class, and helping fellow students.

More about the College and Career Readiness program can be found here:

www.sandhills.edu/wce/ccr/

About NAEHS

In 1991, Lloyd Weaver an Adult Education practitioner organized the first NAEHS induction ceremony to provide meaningful recognition to 17 deserving adult students. In particular was one elderly lady, a single parent with a quadriplegic daughter and a full-time job in a textile plant, who had vowed years before to return to school to complete her high school education. On her third attempt, she was finally able to earn a GED. Other students had also demonstrated remarkable perseverance in achieving their educational goals and were included in that first celebration.

With 17 printed certificates, an “Induction Ceremony” was held for the honorees and their families. Everyone who witnessed that first ceremony was impressed by the impact it had upon the honorees and their families. The local press ran a story and soon other practitioners called for information about this new honor society.

Following that first small ceremony, it was decided to award lapel pins and letters of recommendation for employment along with the NAEHS membership certificates. Within a few years, other practitioners around the state were conducting NAEHS inductions for their better students. Word spread, and as they say, “The rest is history.”

In 2015, after serving as NAEHS’s director for 23 years Lloyd Weaver and his wife Janice decided to retire and Robert Bentti was appointed as the new director. In 2022, Robert retired and passed along the business to his granddaughter, Elizabeth Luciano. As a teacher, she shares the passion and dedication of honoring deserving students.

Today, NAEHS has a full-time director and staff to meet the needs of programs from Alaska to Maine and California to Florida.

Oct. 27, 2026

Jennifer J. Pearce

SCC Director of Marketing and Communications

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