Three Rivers College’s Sheri Mitchell recently received the Missouri Community College Association’s (MCCA) Outstanding Adjunct Faculty Award.
The Outstanding Adjunct Faculty Award is granted each year in recognition of the vital contributions adjuncts make to the community college mission.
“It’s an honor to be the only arts teacher to be honored at the MCCA Recognition and Excellence Awards,” Mitchell said. “This wouldn’t be possible without the dedication and hard work of all my students.”
Mitchell’s work in Three Rivers College’s spring musicals includes Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat, Willy Wonka, and Happy Days, her nomination said. Most recently, she directed our Broadway musical production of “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.” This fall, she will be personally sewing the costumes for our production of “The Pajama Game.” The students and faculty are fortunate to benefit from her unbridled zeal for arts education.
In the classroom, Mitchell has empowered Three Rivers students through process-based education, equipping them to reach their potential and goals, her nomination continued. She assists with MUSC 123 History and Appreciation of Music, and offers her services as a private voice coach and spring musical director. However, it is her unofficial roles that make her stand out. She serves the music department as a recruiter, stage director, student mentor, and much more. An educator with experience from elementary through college and a curriculum designer in art, music, and theater across four states, Sheri is a tremendous resource for students in the classroom and on the stage. She has been nominated as a “Golden Apple Teacher” in New Mexico and as “Teacher of the Year” at Ft. Zumwalt Schools in O’Fallon, Missouri.
Mitchell also received the Three Rivers Adjunct of the Year Award for Excellence in Teaching in April.
“It is wonderful to be honored for my work here at Three Rivers College,” Mitchell said. “I have been dedicated to my students here and their success and encourage them to always do their best work–and I have tried to model that in everything I do. In many ways, to have your best work recognized validates your efforts, and I am grateful for that recognition!”
Mitchell earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Education with an emphasis in Music and Art from Southeast Missouri State University, and a Master’s Degree in Music Education with a specialization of Educational Theatre from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville.
She created community musical theater organizations in Missouri and California that are still running decades after her guiding inspiration.
“Sheri Mitchell brings a wealth of training, including certifications and memberships in the American Orff-Schulwerk Association, Music Educators National Conference, National Association of Teachers of Singing, Education Theater Association, and the International Thespian Society,” said Three Rivers Professor of Music Cindy White. “The students and faculty at Three Rivers College are fortunate to benefit from her unbridled zeal for arts education.”
