Search SEARCH ALUMNI STUDENTS MYNWCC FACULTY & STAFF APPLY NOW REQUEST INFO CORONAVIRUS HOME > ABOUT > FOUNDATION > RETIREE HONOREES 2021 Retiree Honorees 2021 Arrington and Davis Ferguson and Gilliam Hall and Lamar Logan and Lowrey Mixon and Moore Smith and Walton Weakley and Wilson LEAH K. ARRINGTON (30 YEARS) What are you looking forward to most in retirement? Not being in a constant state of “hurry”!! I want to spend my time doing things that I don’t have time for now. I recently purchased a piano to try and remove some of the guilt I feel over my grandmother paying for 6 years of piano lessons with minimal results. I am currently working on Fur Elise by Beethoven which was a recital piece 40+ years ago. My family hopes I master this one soon and can move on! I would also like to learn to sew – my mother would be so proud! - and make furniture. What is one of your fondest memories of your time at Northwest? I don’t have one in particular that stands out. I have been truly blessed to have had the opportunity to share a small portion of my students’ lives as they passed through Northwest and to see them succeed. For that, I will always be thankful. I also have been blessed to have co-workers that I consider my extended family. My career at Northwest started at the original DeSoto Center Campus located on Stateline Road in Southaven. Keith Godbold put me in an office on the 4th floor with Sally Askew as my neighbor along with the rest of the crew that accepted me into their lunch hour conversations and so it began….. When I moved to the Senatobia Campus, the faculty there were just as welcoming. Thirty years later, I still love what I do! What is your favorite Northwest event to attend? Who’s Who Recognition Ceremony and the Outstanding Students’ Lunch because the students were so honored to be honored. DALE DAVIS (37 YEARS) What are you looking forward to most in retirement? After thirty-seven years of teaching writing, I plan to devote most of my time on my own writing. My wife and I plan to travel, particularly back to Hawaii and Alaska. I am also looking forward to not commuting from Oxford five days a week. What is one of your fondest memories of your time at Northwest? I know this is odd but one of my fondest memories is what I call the Great Humanities Flood of 2017. We came back to work in January that year to a building flooded by burst water pipes. The deluge began on the third floor and worked its way down, thanks to gravity. All three floors suffered major damage, especially the first floor. Classes began on Friday morning of that week. My faculty pulled together and performed their part, advising students during registration and meeting their classes that Friday. The Housekeeping staff performed miracles getting up the water and drying the building. The Physical Plant folks found and fixed the burst pipes and began the process of clearing out water-logged debris and later helped with the restoration of the first floor. My fellow department directors offered rooms in their buildings to help relocate classes. Nursing director Denise Bynum called and offered rooms in her building since there were to be no nursing classes that Friday. We were able to divide all of the Humanities classes between the Nursing Building and the few rooms in Humanities not affected by the flood. Angie Stuart and Stacey Stewart and others braved the freezing cold on that Friday morning, directing students the appropriate buildings and classrooms. Dr. Matthew Domas helped coordinate this logistical feat, communicate information to students through social media, and offer words of encouragement and help during the renovation later that semester. I am sure I have missed mentioning so many others who pitched in during this crisis, but with everyone’s help and cooperation, every Humanities instructor met their first classes, and the first day finished successfully. This epic disaster exemplifies the spirit and the strength of the Northwest family. What is your favorite Northwest event to attend? I always enjoyed spring band concerts, from percussion ensemble and steel drum band to the concert band. I have had many band students in my classes over the years, and during the concerts, they play their hearts out. Main Campus 4975 Highway 51N Senatobia, MS 38668 (662) 562-3200 ALUMNI & FRIENDS Alumni Ask a Question Foundation Site Map RESOURCES Employment at Northwest (opens in new window/tab) Police and Public Safety WIN Job Centers Workforce SERVICES Dining Services Facility Reservations Health and Wellness Clinic Ranger Bookstore Twitter (opens in new window/tab) YouTube (opens in new window/tab) Facebook (opens in new window/tab) Instagram (opens in new window/tab) © 2020 Northwest Mississippi Community College Accessibility Affirmative Action Privacy Policy TITLE IX Transparency MS (opens in new window/tab) Powered by Finalsite