Current News Headlines: Arkansas Couple Graduate Together With Doctorate Degrees
A married couple from Arkansas, Sherman and Sonya Whitfield, have proven that they not only share love together, but also the same level of education. They both graduated together earning their Doctor of Education degrees in school leadership at Arkansas Tech University.. Sonya told THV 11:
“I’m very proud of what we’ve done, but I’m also very humbled.”
“We’ve been very blessed and fortunate to complete this journey, much less complete it together.”
Since Sonya started her career in education in a summer job at a daycare, she made made up her mind on what she really wanted to do. She met her husband, Sherman, for the first time while teaching at an elementary school in Pine Bluff. He was a senior at the University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff. He initially wanted to pursue a career with the FBI but eventually thought “it would be pretty good to raise a family, be able to teach school and be on that same schedule.”
“After I started teaching, I decided to go and get my administrator’s license and Sonya tagged along for moral support,” Sherman said.
Later on, he was joined by Sonya in taking their master’s degree together and now their doctorate degree. Last May 10, the couple received their Doctor of Education degree in school leadership at Arkansas Tech University together. Sonya’s dissertation was about the National Board Certified Teachers and the impact they have on “student achievement in mathematics and reading in the PCSSD.” While Sherman wrote his dissertation about the “experiences and perceptions of students who attended segregated and desegregated schools.”
Sherman currently serves as the director of pupil services at the Pulaski County Special School District while Sonya is the principal at Baker Elementary School, which is within the same school district. The proud husband said:
“To represent the past generations of my family, I am in awe.”
“The worst thing for me is not failing… it’s not trying. Do it. Just do it. Don’t leave it in your mind five years from now.”
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