Faculty Instructional Awards 2020

Faculty Instructional Award winners for 2020 were announced during the Fall Summit on Sept. 2. The Instructional Awards are part of an effort to recognize and honor individual excellence in teaching. The awards are designed to reward those instructors at Kalamazoo Valley who actively encourage students' intellectual curiosity, engage them in the enterprise of learning and have a lifelong impact. Award nominations are made by any current student, faculty or staff member. More than 400 entries were submitted for consideration this year.

This year’s winners are math instructors James Kordupel and Amy Longcore; geography instructor Queen Roach; Anna Fontaine, English, philosophy and First Year Experience instructor; welding instructor Erick Martin; and physics instructor Patrick Malsom. English instructor Ron Higginbotham introduced the winners and noted that everyone rose to the challenge of teaching remotely when the pandemic began in March. This year, we are “celebrating the atmosphere of excellence that we all help maintain,” he said.

See Kalamazoo Valley Community College President L. Marshall Washington’s video congratulating the award winners : here.

Watch a video of the instructors accepting their awards here.

James Kordupel
Kordupel’s nominators had high praise for him. A sampling of their comments follow: “He helps his students in any way he can and his notes and examples are clear and organized. Always respects his students.”

“Superior instructor, knowledgeable, presents material multiple ways for students to understand. Personable, encouraging, nonjudgmental, just a fabulous person who helps students to do their best.”

“He makes math fun and engages all the students in the class and pays close attention to each individual’s needs.”

“He makes math super easy to understand, and makes class fun and entertaining. He only wants success for his students and is available for extra help if you need it.”

Amy Longcore
Longcore’s nominators were grateful for her attentiveness and said, “She was a great teacher to me. I came into this class expecting to struggle and came out of this class able to teach people such as my roommates what I was learning. Overall, Amy was a great teacher and one of the best I've had in some years.”

“She's a great teacher, she has an awesome way of explaining things that everyone will understand. She makes class fun even though I don't like math.”

“She really takes the time to go over things and explain it. Never does anyone feel bad asking questions. In fact, she encourages it. She also has been excellent during COVID-19, doing everything she can to still help us succeed.”

“I believe Amy should be nominated for the Instructional Award because she has been super helpful with all the students with any troubles or hardships they have. She has been checking her emails constantly, ready to reply to anyone who is having trouble understanding any topics during the pandemic. She has been on Zoom every class ready to answer everyone's questions and is always ready to re-teach a lesson.”

“She made learning very easy and fun. She made sure everyone understood the material. Very kind and understanding. Best professor that I've had since I have gone to Kalamazoo Valley.”

Queen Roach
Queen Roach’s students also stressed that she is caring and engaging, saying, "It has been an absolute delight to attend Queen Roach's class. She is the most caring, understanding, and genuine teacher I have ever had. When she is teaching, she constantly has a smile on her face and you can tell that she is truly passionate about what she does. She always takes the time to answer all questions and has even stayed after class with me to explain something I was confused about. Her tests reflect the material, she is fair, and she makes the class interesting. However, Queen goes above and beyond normal professor duties: she builds relationships with her students. My friends and I often find ourselves having conversations about life with her. We feel as though we can talk to her about anything! I have also enjoyed learning about her Indian culture. Queen makes me excited to come to class.”

“I am currently in my last semester here at Valley. Never in the eight years I've been attending, have I had a teacher who genuinely appreciates his/her students and tells them every class. Mrs. Roach is a wonderful professor/person who is extremely knowledgeable in her field. She has a desire to keep learning and challenges her students to ask the difficult questions and find the answer together. Queen possesses rare qualities in a human being, let alone a professor, eager to sculpt the minds of students at Kalamazoo Valley. I am delighted to have been lucky enough to take one of her classes and look forward to the upcoming weeks.”

“Queen is by far the best instructor I have had during my time at Kalamazoo Valley. Every morning when I walked into class she greeted me and all the other students with a big smile and a “hello or good morning, how are you?” You could genuinely tell that from the bottom of her heart she cares about each and every one of her students. She would make every student feel loved and wants her students to be successful. As a future teacher, she was an inspiration to me and was an amazing example of how I want to be involved in the lives of my students someday.”

“Ms. Queen was not only an amazing instructor but she truly cared about her students' success in and outside of her classroom. I learned a lot about the world through her course and it made me look further outside of coursework to learn even more. You can tell she is passionate about what she is teaching and the profession as a whole. When I was going through a depression and my grade slipped a little in her class, she was attentive and understanding, as well as accommodating of what I was going through and ultimately I was successful in her class. I will never forget her.”

Anna Fontaine
One of Fontaine’s nominators said, “This is a class I didn't want to take but after taking the (First Year Experience) course. I can't recommend it enough. This class was extremely helpful and motivating. It taught me things I thought I didn't need to know while also teaching me why I should know them. It was eye opening and fun. Not only was it applicable to my college career, it taught me things I will continue to use in everyday life. Anna Fontaine was helpful, fun and very nice. If I see her to this day (I took the class five semesters ago) I go out of my way to stop and chat with her.” Another student called her the “most down to earth instructor I've had so far. Does a great job in including everyone. Wants everyone to succeed and teaches from her heart.”

“I admit I was initially skeptical of what I could learn in an Intro to Philosophy class in my final semester of my degree. I am a non-traditional student with over eight years of professional work experience, and I was admittedly reluctant to have to take another philosophy class. However, after all has been said and done, I can honestly say Anna Fontaine's curriculum selection and teaching style contributed to a permanent change in my worldview, for the better, and major adjustments in my approach to communicating with others.”

“Out of the 95 college credits I have completed at three different educational institutions, I would consider Anna Fontaine's class to be the single-most-influential class to effect positive change in all participating students. She did so without establishing rigid classroom structure; in fact, her teaching style was quite the opposite. She learned from us as much as we learned from her. It was clear to me, while observing other students' final presentations, my classmates shared my feelings about the transformative effect the subject matter and Anna Fontaine's teaching had. I believe we left our Intro to Philosophy class as morally better people than we were when we began.”

“Anna Fontaine is making a great contribution to the world in using her specialized skills as an educator, and that is why I am nominating her for a Faculty Instructional Award from Kalamazoo Valley Community College.”

Erick Martin
Erick Martin’s nominators praised his exceptional skills as a welder and instructor, saying, “I nominate Erick Martin for being competent, organized and energetic as an instructor as well as extremely knowledgeable in his trade. I feel that Erick Martin had the most organized system of hand outs, vocabulary, presentation lectures, and lab based demos, above and beyond that of any other teacher I've encountered in any class here, regardless of department. His welding lab is also better than South Western Michigan because it has a larger variety of equipment that better reflects the industrial work environment. I have actually been down there and can confirm he wasn't making all that up.”

“Erick changed my life. That's all the reason I need,” another one said. “Erick deserves this award because he has been more than an instructor to me. He has been a mentor, a friend and a person you can turn to for advice. He goes to every length to help his students succeed and develop the skills required in the welding trade. All he asks for in return is the sincere effort of his students. He is also on campus more than any instructor I know of and is extremely accommodating to students who are currently employed and veterans.”

And finally, “Awesome instructor and master of his craft!”

Patrick Malsom
One of Malsom’s students said, “Patrick is the most friendly and helpful professor I've ever had here at Kalamazoo Valley. He will always strive to make the material as easy to digest as possible and any questions that arise are always met with positivity and enthusiasm. I would challenge someone to find an individual who doesn't enjoy Patrick's classes.”

Another student said, “When I took his class first time, I dropped his class before the end of the semester. When I took his lesson for the second time, he always answered my questions very clearly. He was more productive when he gave extra lessons to those who wanted. He is very smart and understanding teacher. Taking his class a second time was the best thing I ever did at Kalamazoo Valley.”

“Patrick Malsom is very kind, helpful and understanding. When you need help he is always willing to help you through.”

“All you have to do is ask and he is willing to stop and explain until you get it. He is always ready to stay with you when you need help for as long as you need him. He’s a caring and passionate teacher who also has a skill explaining difficult concepts in a simple way.”

“Physics tends to be a difficult class for most, but Professor Malsom makes it interesting and presents the material very well. I am amazed as to how much I have learned in just a semester. You can tell he truly loves his job, always has an upbeat attitude, and arrives on time. He connects with the students very well and makes lectures entertaining. I wish Engineering Physics 2 was taught by him! He deserves the best professor award!”

“Dr. Malsom taught his class in a way that allowed his students to get a full understanding of the material along with continually making changes to how he taught the course to ensure the concepts were learned. Advice was given from time to time in class which gave us knowledge about things to expect while continuing our journey through college and later in life when looking for a career. Anytime you walked into his room he made it a priority for his students to benefit from being there. There wasn't a wasted day in that class all semester. I truly believe that he is a good candidate for this award.”

Another nominator said, “Dr. Malsom encourages his students to think beyond rote calculations. He excels at relating what we are learning in physics to our own experiences in the physical world. He draws on that experience and the foundational laws of physics to get us to think like scientists, encouraging us to question him and not take anything for granted. He takes the time to get to know his students and our chosen career paths so that he can relate what we are learning to what we will need to know someday in our future jobs. He is kind, gives interesting lectures, and takes the time to make sure every student fully understands the subject both during class and in office hours. I have had Dr. Malsom for Physics I and II, and I would highly recommend him to future students.”

Congratulations to all of our esteemed educators!