HANCEVILLE, Ala. – Wallace State Community College celebrated the success of more than 120 nursing students during a pinning ceremony for the August 2026 class.
Graduates of the program included the first cohort of the UAB/WSCC Joint Enrollment Mobility option, the second cohort for the Wallace State/Athens State Joint Enrollment program and the 12th cohort for the UAB/Wallace State Joint Enrollment program. The joint enrollment programs allow students to concurrently earn both an associate degree from Wallace State and a bachelor’s degree from the partnering institution.
“This evening, we gather here in the spirit of celebration and achievement,” said Deborah “Pepper” Hoover, chair of the Wallace State Department of Nursing Education. “Each graduate has embarked on a journey filled with dedication, compassion and unwavering commitment.”
Hoover asked the graduates to remember three things throughout their careers: Commit with heart to their nursing care, continue to learn and grow as a person and as a nurse and to celebrate the moments every day.
“Nursing is not merely a profession,” she added. “It is a calling – an unyielding desire to serve, heal and uplift.”
In her address to the class, Lisa German, vice president for learning at Wallace State, noted she has always appreciated nurses, but that appreciation deepened this year when her granddaughter spent a week in pediatric intensive care after suffering injuries in an accident.
“During that time there was a myriad of physicians, therapists and other healthcare providers that passed through her room and were attending to her needs,” German said. “But the comfort to me and my son and daughter-in-law was the omnipresence of those nurses that were there attending to her needs. That experience provided me with a heightened depth of gratitude and appreciation for the nursing profession.”
Class President Daizhara Hoyett of Birmingham congratulated her classmates for the strength and perseverance they demonstrated to earn their degree.
“These graduates didn’t make it here because life was easy. They made it here because they refused to quit,” she said.
“I saw the mother breastfeeding while returning to the program for a second try and refusing to give up. I saw the students in the study rooms on days when classes weren’t in session because average was not good enough. I saw the father with the wife and several babies at home depending on him to make it to the finish line so he could change the financial direction of his family,” Hoyett said.
“Tonight represents every sacrifice, every tear, every prayer, every sleepless night, every exam we thought we wouldn’t pass and every moment we questioned if we were strong enough to make it here today,” she said. “We became stronger, more disciplined and more compassionate, more professional and more confident than we ever imagined we could be.”
Nightingale Awards presented
As is tradition, several students were recognized as nominees and winners of the Nightingale Award. Nominees and winners are selected by faculty in recognition of the students’ commitment to excellence in scholarship and dedication to compassion and exemplary patient care.
Maddie Hopson, Valencia Gulley and Kayleigh Lee each received a Nightingale Award.
Hopson, of Cullman, was described as a true light to those around her whose uplifting spirit and ability to bring joy to even the busiest and most stressful moments make her a positive influence on her peers, faculty and patients.
Gulley, of Birmingham, was said to “radiate the caring compassionate nature that every nurse should have.”
Lee, of Cullman, had open heart surgery at age 19 and that experience led to her decision to become a nurse. “I want to give back to patients – especially those facing situations similar to mine, or even more difficult ones – to provide them with the compassion, understanding and care that made such a difference in my own life,” Hoover read from Lee’s graduation reflection story.
Other nominees for the Nightingale Award were Roberto Abarca, Emma Bailey, Jalon Boatright, Lawaiia Browder Richardson, Chloe-Faith Conrad, April Crump, Kim Gordon, Andrea Harbin, Daizhara Hoyett, Ester Jose, Lorie Brooke Kilgore, Hayley Langley, Katelyn Rogers, Stephanie Shoemaker and Shameria Wells.
Members of the Wallace State Nursing August 2026 class include:
Addison: Zoey Bryant (Williams), Jesse Oliver
Alabaster: April Crump
Albertville: Luciano Jimenez
Arab: Madison Ayers, Michaela Brown, Ashley Kingston, Katelyn Richey
Bessemer: Rolonda Burks, Jalen, (Jay) Craig, Atalya Everett, Kenya King
Birmingham: Ladarrious Blue, Akira Brazziel, Toccara Corbin, Lilkeshia (Keshia) Davis, Kim Gordon (Agee), Rhema Gresham, Valencia Gulley, Daizhara Hoyett, Lauren Khieu, Danaea Miller, Rakell Mahogany, Tanaja (Nay) Roberts, Zharia Tanksley
Blountsville: Chloe-Faith Conrad, Lauren Hawley
Boaz: Ester Jose, Emily Williams
Camden: Charilyn McConnico
Center Point: Edna Mitchell, Bianca Goodman
Cherokee Ridge: Stephanie Branum
Cleveland: Rebekah (Faith) Hixon
Cullman: Carsyn Blankenship, Katelyn Embrey (Miller), Mark Fisher, Madison (Maddie) Hopson, Kinsley Hunter, Karli Jacobs, Heather Jones, Kayleigh Lee, Jennifer Potts, Melissa Rodriguez, Katelyn Rogers, Bailey Smith, Abigail (Abby) Stancil, Lindsey Weidman
Decatur: Concepcion (Connie) Cottongin
Double Springs: Olivia Cofer
Empire: Chloe Stewart (Washington)
Falkville: Haleyn Puckett
Florence: Destiny Holden
Fultondale: Coreye Agee, Sydney Curry
Gardendale: Felicity McClendon, McKenley Torrez
Haleyville: Meagan Turner
Hanceville: Emma Bailey, Makaleigh Cortes Gomez, Kristin Knight, Haley Langley, Makenzie Light, Madison Swann, Alexandra (Allie) Willcutt (Hunter)
Hartselle: Gwendolyn Lunsford
Harvest: Lawaiia Browder
Hayden: Stephanie Shoemaker
Helena: Joseph Corbin, Dominic Fuller, Leslie Torrijos
Holly Pond: Kenneth (Justin) Edwards
Homewood: Gabriella Grimes, Enid Kigondu
Hoover: Emily Colpo, Cedacia Dew, Thomas Valentine
Houston: Karly Wade
Jasper: Krista Atkins, Araceli Ramirez
Jemison: Roberto Abarca
Kimberly: Samantha Madison
Leeds: Randilee Hosmer-Condley, Britney Pearson
Locust Fork: Jalon Boatright, Emily Stringfield
Logan: Garrett Brown
Madison: Tanisha Hubert
Maylene: Erica Huff
McCalla: Courtney Owen
Montevallo: John Jones
Montgomery: Laura Rugley
Moody: Timothy Pierce
Nauvoo: Elysia Edwards, Josey Robinson
Oakman: Shamerria Wells
Odenville: Brittany Fry
Oneonta: Angela Bodine, Faith Hubbard, Timothy (Justin) Lake, Marcela Mendoza Quiroz, Elizabeth Nunez, Karina Nunez, Michelle Velez
Pelham: Brett Gillespie
Pinson: Jazzlynn Carrington, Robin Muniz, Lauren Wesley
Rainbow City: LB (Lorie-Brooke) Kilgore
Rogersville: Breanna Butler (Hughes)
Scottsboro: Danielle Doss (Rich)
Somerville: Justin Smith
Southside: Frances (Grace) Phillips
Springville: Sydney Brannan
Talladega: Astrid Wesley
Toney: Danielle Coney, Jovaine Dell
Trafford: Silvia Rivera
Trussville: Caroline Crane
Vinemont: Andrea Diemert, Melissa Hagler, Starla Handley (Fuller)
Winfield: Andrea Harbin
Woodville: Caroline Gray
The Wallace State Nursing program is accepting applications for Spring 2027 entry through Oct. 1 for the traditional associate degree pathway, UAB/WSCC Joint Enrollment and Wallace State/Athens State Joint Enrollment.
