Image: Jeremy Daniel, an IHE master’s student, was recently named a Mentor of the Year with the Clarke County Mentor Program. The program pairs students who want or need mentors with local volunteers who visit with them at school on a weekly basis and also take them to community events or on educational field trips. Daniel has worked with the program since February 2014, when he started mentoring a kindergarten student who is now in second grade. For his work with this student, Daniel was named the Fowler Drive Elementary School Mentor of the Year. “It is an honor and pleasure serving as a University of Georgia ambassador providing my mentee hope, wisdom, encouragement, empathy and love,” Daniel says. “There is no greater joy than putting a smile on his face and planting seeds with him and his classmates about attending a postsecondary institution at an early age.” Daniel earned an undergraduate degree from Georgia Southern University in 2009 and came to UGA in 2014 as a work management coordinator in the Facilities Management Division. In addition to serving as a mentor, he is an advisory board member of the Athens Area Fellowship of Christian Athletes and recently served as chair of United Way of NE Georgia Young Philanthropists. He also has mentored college students in the UGA Office of Student Conduct/Health Promotion Department Mentor Program. Daniel began his pursuit of a M.Ed. in higher education at IHE in January 2015. His research interests include student success/retention, moral development of students, organizational culture/behavior, leadership, governance, state and federal educational policy, access and service learning. Type of News/Audience: General News