{"id":14333,"date":"2015-12-08T14:50:20","date_gmt":"2015-12-08T19:50:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/?p=14333"},"modified":"2019-10-09T10:10:12","modified_gmt":"2019-10-09T14:10:12","slug":"mckinley-maples-student-success-profile","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/2015\/12\/mckinley-maples-student-success-profile\/","title":{"rendered":"McKinley Maples: Student Success Profile"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Ashley Arnold, University Relations Intern<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

McKinley Maples, who is currently working on his M.Ed. in Secondary Education at UTC, credits his inspiration and \u00a0motivation for success to a teacher he had in middle school. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI had an eighth grade science teacher that made such an impact on my life that I was like, I want to give back to the kids that really need it. So I got into middle grades education and I absolutely love it,\u201d Maples said. <\/span><\/p>\n

Maple was trying to come up with the money to pay for college and had no idea how he was going to do it until the <\/span>Each One Reach One<\/span><\/a> scholarship was mentioned to him. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWithout this scholarship, I wouldn\u2019t have finished college. I honestly didn\u2019t know how I was going to pay for it. When Sandy Cole and Joanne Cook sat me down and told me that it was a full tuition scholarship, they\u2019ll tell you, I broke down and cried. It meant everything to me,\u201d Maples said.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Each One Reach One scholarship began as an initiative that was called, \u201cDiversity in Teaching\u201d and was originally created to help correct the problem of the underrepresentation of African Americans and Hispanic public school teachers in Tennessee. Since then, the grant has changed to focus on finding up and coming educators who have a desire and commitment to diversity in teaching. <\/span><\/p>\n

Maples is the first person in his family to graduate college, and he feels that he has set the bar for others to follow. <\/span><\/p>\n

Watch the full interview below.<\/span><\/p>\n