VALDOSTA — Emily Elizabeth Culpepper of Lake Park is the recipient of the 2022 James L. and Dorothy H. Dewar College of Education and Human Services Highest Academic Achievement Award at Valdosta State University.

The Dewar College of Education and Human Services Highest Academic Achievement Award is presented to a student with a record of academic excellence and distinguished service inside and outside the classroom, university officials said in a statement.

“I am humbled and honored to receive this award,” she said. “I appreciate my many professors who helped me become a professional educator; they encouraged me, answered my many questions and gave me valuable feedback. My family, friends and mentor teacher have prayed for me and inspired me to pursue my dreams. Most of all, I thank God for giving me the strength, ability and opportunity to serve Him as an educator.”

Culpepper graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor of science in education in middle grades education, with concentrations in language arts and mathematics, during VSU’s 233rd commencement. She has accepted a job teaching at Lowndes Middle School, where she hopes to inspire her students to love learning, university officials said.

As a student at VSU, Culpepper was inducted into Alpha Chi: National College Honor Society and Kappa Delta Pi: International Honor Society in Education. She was also a member of the Valdosta Sullivan Scholars Program’s Professional Learning Committee. 

Beyond her required field experiences, she volunteered as a teacher’s assistant in area middle schools. She is an active member of Landmark Calvary Holiness Church of Valdosta, where she sings and plays piano and violin, and she teaches children’s church at a summer camp.

Culpepper’s commitment to academic, leadership and service excellence resulted in her being named a Zell Miller Scholar, an Honors Scholar and a Sullivan Scholar and earning repeated dean’s list honors, the Antonio and Edna Criscuolo Endowment Scholarship and the Georgia Power Foundation Student Recruitment and Retention Fund Scholarship. 

She also earned the President’s Award for Academic Excellence for the James L. and Dorothy H. Dewar College of Education and Human Services and had the honor of leading her fellow graduates during the spring graduation march.

Culpepper’s supportive family includes her parents Ben and Jennifer Culpepper.