Regina Walters named 2024 North Carolina Community College Academic Excellence Winner
Robeson Community College announced its 2024 North Carolina Community College Academic Excellence winner during its commencement ceremonies today.
Regina Walters received the distinct honor, one that is given to one student per year from each of the 58 community colleges in North Carolina.
“It’s a surreal feeling,” Walters stated as she received the award. “It’s an honor and a privilege… I have been out of school for 27 years and to come back and accomplish this, it is truly surreal”
“I am a single mother of two boys and a grandmother to 1 precious little girl,” Walters continued. “I never imagined that I would have the opportunity to go back to school to become a teacher.”
Walters graduated with an associate of applied science in early childhood education. She has worked for Head Start for 22 years, 16 of which has been at the location in Pembroke, as the kitchen manager.
“I was actually at work when RCC came to observe teachers,” Walters said. “I was asked if I ever thought about going back to school, and they asked me to attend an information session coming up, and all of this took off from there.”
Walters plans on continuing to work for Head Start, but will move from the kitchen to the classroom, possibly working with children as young as 2 years old up to 5 years of age.
“Head Start helps to set a firm foundation for children before they enter into public school,” Walters said. “The children learn social and development skills which is so important for success later on in life… I feel this is what I am called to do, and will continue to do until God tells me to move somewhere else.”
“Robeson Community College afforded me the opportunity to do this,” Walters said. “If anyone was to ask me why I chose RCC, I would tell them it’s family- feeling learning environment. Robeson Community College not only cares about its staff, but also its students. They have made my college experience easier and pleasant for me to succeed.”
With roots deep in Robeson County education, Walters says that “education is in my blood, it runs through me.”
“My Great, Great, Great, Great, Great Grandparents Reverend Elias and Roxy Thompson, and my Great, Great, Great, Great Grandfather Alexander Thompson founded the Thompson Institute in Lumberton,” Walters says. “It is still standing today, known as W.H. Knuckles Elementary.”
According to a history marker by the school the “Thompson Institute was established in 1881 for blacks by Lumber River Baptist Assoc. Boarding School; trained teachers; named for A.H. Thompson. Succeeded here by public school in 1942.”
Although Walters was not born in Robeson County, she still considers this to be home. She was born in Pennsylvania, which is where her parents were stationed at the time of her birth.
“My parents were from Robeson County and both were in the military,” Walters said. “But I spent a lot of time with my Grandmother who lived here growing up, and when I was 18 years old, this is where I came home to live.”
Being raised in the military environment, allowed Walters an opportunity to see the world.
“I have lived in a multitude of different places and countries,” Walters said. “New Jersey, Philadelphia, Kansas, Hawaii, and Germany to name a few… I think that helped me to be more well-rounded… I experienced different cultures and had opportunities to be around different people.”
“In the military, they teach you to treat people like you want to be treated, and that’s how I want to be,” Walters said. “I think that’s the kind of attitude you need to become a greater person and for me, a better teacher.”
Walters says that as a teacher, she wants to make a lasting impact on her students and her community, much like her descendants did.
“It doesn’t matter what you look like or where you come from,” Walters said. “I am going to treat each of them like the child I hope they become… I know if they are sparked by the right person, they will succeed, and I want to be that person.”
Walters credits her family with much of her success and her positive outlook on life.
“My Grandma taught her children they could be anything they wanted to be,” Walters said. “She took my mother to the March on Washington in 1964… she helped to de-segregate the schools… and all my life, I knew that she would be there for me.”
Although her Grandma has now passed, Walters says she knows that her Grandma’s presence was with her today at the graduation ceremony, and that she will now have an opportunity to continue on the legacy and values she instilled in her.
“I thank my Grandma for everything, she took up that torch to advocate for children in our community and that is what I aspire to be,” Walters said. “She helped me to see that we should want everyone to be prosperous and for our children to see there is great things that can come out of Robeson County.”
