Marcy Brock Moore retires from teaching communications at HCTC

Hazard Community and Technical College will forever be a part of who I am, says Marcy Brock Moore who is retiring from Hazard Community and Technical College as a communications professor. She began as a student with HCTC and after earning her credentials, she joined the faculty in 1997.

As a student here, the first words I remember were Know Thyself. She has borrowed these words for every class that she has ever taught. My journey here as a student and as faculty has been an amazing circle, she said. She is deeply rewarded when she meets a former student years later, and she hears, Mrs. Moore, I just used the skills I learned in your class during our administrative meeting! Or Mrs. Moore, because of the content we studied in class, I just made a personal decision for my life. I decided I deserve better. Or Mrs. Moore, I just returned from an event and I was the speaker, and the skills I learned in your class made all the difference!

Students appreciate Mrs. Moore s teaching. One student called being in her class A wonderful experience! Another noted, Although public speaking is not a natural talent of mine, I did enjoy the class and the way it was set up. Mrs. Moore is an excellent teacher who seems to enjoy her job very much. You can tell even with the class being online that she has a passion for the subject and loves her students. Another wrote in an evaluation that Mrs. Moore was a fantastic instructor. Very positive and passionate.

That passion is what prompts Mrs. Moore to remember the young, strong man standing at the podium in her class with tears streaming down his face, sharing with the audience (the class) how he had lost his family and his job because of choices he had made in his life, and his own personal surprise that he was sharing this information. She also remembers the student speaker who shared her personal experience of breaking the cycle in family violence.

Other memories include the student who traveled back to Jackson to be the keynote speaker at HCTC s Evening of Oratory, even after she had graduated and was working as a nurse in Lexington, as well as the student who returned from EKU to speak during this special evening. She remembers the time she walked into a graduation at MSU, and seeing the student speaker who had taken her COM 181 class in Jackson. She remembers the student who spoke in her first Evening of Oratory and is now leading our HCTC s faculty as Faculty Chair. Oh, and the list goes on and on, and on. Time, it goes so quickly, she said.

Mrs. Moore loves the idea of inspiration, and that is the opportunity that teaching gives her. It is her hope that she and her students inspire each other as they learn together. If I had only one competency that could be included in my course syllabi, it would be to empower the student to learn. Of course, I love the study of communication and its importance in every area of life, whether it is personal, professional or public. Communication is not just a word; it is a deep, deep study with variables that need to be understood by everyone in order to build and maintain strong relationships, she noted.

It has been important to me through these years to convey to students to learn and know themselves, and that life is one big classroom and to NEVER stop learning! When we stop learning, we die. It is important that the student not just learn some content that will be forgotten as soon as the semester is over, but to learn skills that will be life changing when applied, she said.

During retirement, she wants to take time to watch the sunset and take the time for a real caring conversation, and to walk with her grandson and to listen to his wisdom. I love the stories about those who have done their best work during this special time in their lives, and this is the outcome I anticipate for my own life. I want my life filled with positive purpose and to become more involved with learning and teaching Biblical lessons for women, she said.

She looks forward to spending time with her husband, who retired a couple of years ago, her 84-year-old father, her children, and grandchildren. She is settling in Somerset after living in Stanton. The move from Stanton was prompted by her husband s retirement and the fact that her daughter lives in Somerset. I have learned that being close to family is important, and I will make the move instead of asking my daughter to uproot her life. That is important to me, she said.

While at HCTC, Mrs. Moore was part of the Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS) President Michael B. McCall s tenth annual President's Leadership Seminar.

Marcella Brock holds a master s degree from Morehead State University. She began her career in teaching while employed as an education coordinator in healthcare. She has served as chair of numerous committees, faculty advisor for Phi Theta Kappa, and served on the Communications Curriculum Committee at the System level. She has received several nominations for Who s Who in American Teachers, has been a recipient of the HCTC President s Award for Student Engagement, and was presented with the New Horizons Faculty Excellence Award.