The Copiah-Lincoln Community College Alumni Association has named its 2020 outstanding faculty and staff members.

The Co-Lin Alumni Association recently named five faculty and staff members during the annual fall convocation held virtually via Zoom. Two faculty members are from Lincoln County, Don Blandon of Bogue Chitto and Julia Parker of Brookhaven.

Blandon was selected as Outstanding Career-Technical Instructor for the Wesson Campus. He has been employed at Co-Lin since 2015, where he is an instructor in the welding department. Blandon received his welding certificate from Co-Lin in 1998.

He is also a National Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER) Craft Instructor. Blandon previously worked for Wastequip in Brookhaven. He is a member of Living Word Faith Ministry. Blandon has three children, Don Jr., Damon, and Jasmine.

Parker has been employed at Co-Lin since 2007 and serves as the Director of Human Resources. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Jackson State University and a master’s degree from the University of Mississippi.

She is also an adjunct instructor for Mississippi Virtual Community College. She is a Society for Human Resource Management Certified Professional (SHRM-CP) and is a licensed professional in human resources from the HR Certification Institute.

Parker is a member of Bethel AME Church in Brookhaven where she serves as church secretary, young people’s and children’s division director, and stewardess. She is a life member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc.

She and her husband Louis (’00 Co-Lin alum), have two children, Louis X. (’17 Co-Lin alum), and Julian (Co-Lin freshman).

Each year faculty and staff across all three of Co-Lin’s campuses submit nominations on their peers for these awards to the Alumni office.

Once the nominations are all received, a packet of information on each nominee is sent to a selection to review the nominations and vote for one person in each of the five categories.