Student receives Golden Eagle Award

— Northwest Arkansas Community College chose D’Etta Stephens-Mason, a leader in the college’s service learning project with the Cherokee Nation, as the Golden Eagle Award recipient for February.

Stephens-Mason, of Decatur, has spent countless hours on the Cherokee Women & Children Advocacy Project, according to Professor Chris Huggard. She coordinated production of a PowerPoint presentation on the history, culture, women and children and psychosocial aspects of Cherokee society, he noted, and she spearheaded numerous service and research trips to Tahlequah, Okla., to do archival research and service at the Cherokee Heritage Center and the Cherokee Immersion School.

Huggard said the project raised $1,800 that was disbursed to the heritage center and school and used to purchase school supplies, lunch boxes full of crayons, markers, pens, glue sticks and other supplies for students and teachers. Under her leadership, the project has been expanded into the Native American Project that includes research and service concerning the Quapaw peoples at Tar Creek, Okla.

News, Pages 8 on 03/14/2012