Instructor Wayne Ferguson, and sophomore Jessica Motes, both from Northwest Mississippi Community College's DeSoto Center campus, have been honored as the 2007 HEADWAE honorees.

HEADWAE, which stands for Higher Education Appreciation Day - Working for Academic Excellence, was established by the Mississippi Legislature in 1987 to credit each year’s academically talented students and faculty.

The Appreciation Day, hosted by the Legislature each February in Jackson, is the Legislature's way of saying "thank you" to these students and faculty for their commitment to the future of Mississippi.

At this year’s event, set for Feb. 20, honorees are invited to the State Capitol where they are welcomed by the Lieutenant Governor and recognized in each chamber of the Legislature. A luncheon follows wherein each student and faculty honoree is recognized by name in front of their guests, institution leaders, corporate sponsors and legislators.

Ferguson, the department chair of mathematics since 1990, has taught remedial mathematics through calculus at Northwest for the past 21 years. Returning the philosophy he learned as a student at Northwest from his former instructor Anita Wilborn, Ferguson states, “I would want the students to get as good as an education from my class as they would any other college or university.”

Known for his humor and relaxing class atmosphere, Ferguson is “excited and honored to be included with all former faculty inducted in the past.”

Ferguson, of Hernando, received both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mathematics from the University of Mississippi.

He has also provided a major role in the 2006 re-accreditation of Northwest due to the recent Quality Enhancement Plan focusing on student achievement in mathematics as well as serving on various Northwest committees addressing classroom curriculum and textbook adoption.

Jessica Motes, a sophomore from Horn Lake majoring in elementary education, plans to become an elementary teacher after receiving her associate’s, bachelor’s and master’s degree all in her field of study.