Dayberry receives UACCB’S Outstanding Alumni Award

BATESVILLE — Julie Hall Dayberry of Vilonia has been named the University of Arkansas Community College at Batesville’s Outstanding Alumni.

Dayberry, a 2005 UACCB graduate, was recognized earlier this week at the Arkansas Association of Two Year Colleges Fall Conference in Hot Springs. After graduating from UACCB, she transferred to the University of Central Arkansas, where she excelled in preparing for the challenging, yet rewarding, career of being a teacher. She graduated magna cum laude from UCA in December 2007 and received the Outstanding Early Childhood Education Major Award. She has been teaching first grade at Vilonia Elementary School for two years.

“I feel privileged and excited to receive the Outstanding Alumni Award from UACCB,” Dayberry said. “I absolutely loved my time and experiences at UACCB. UACCB provided me with the guidance and primary courses that I needed to succeed in the teacher eEducation program at UCA.”

When Dayberry talks about her job, her enthusiasm for what she does is apparent, and it’s obvious she thoroughly enjoys being a teacher.

“I use a lot of positive reinforcement in my classroom, and I try to build a positive relationship with each of my students,” she said. “I feel if the student feels comfortable, they will be able to succeed academically and behaviorally.”

She said her students know what is expected of them because of her use of a daily routine, and that she has found that students learn best and feel the most comfortable when they are working in a predictable environment. She also uses a lot of “hands-on games and technology,” she said.

When asked what sort of advice she would give to a college student looking at a career in teaching, Dayberry said, “Teaching is a very important career. I think a passion for teaching is very important. The demands of teaching and expectations are very critical in the classroom, and you need to do as much observation and field work as possible to gather ideas and to see what it’s really like in the classroom.”

Dayberry said she would also tell new teachers that some things will work, and some things will not work in the classroom.

“I have found it is important to ask questions and to use as many resources as possible,” she said. “You must be prepared to learn and teach every day. It is a very difficult job, but it is really worth it when the students understand you and learn from you.”

She said the best advice she has received has been to “stay positive in the classroom. You never know when that one little thing that you say will change a child’s life.”

Dayberry is definitely a woman who is on her toes and enjoys her career. She said that without her experiences at UACCB, she would not have been ready to excel at UCA in the ways that she did.

Dayberry, the daughter of Ted and Janie Hall, is married to Brandon Dayberry, the network administrator for the Vilonia Public Schools.