MUSCLE SHOALS & PHIL CAMPBELL, ALA. — Northwest Shoals Community College (NWSCC) students Leah Grimes and Kasandra Valles were named as two of 48 students in the state to the 2022 All-Alabama Academic Team. They were honored Friday (4/22) during a recognition program at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Birmingham. 

Grimes and Valles will each receive a $1,000 scholarship for being selected to the All-Alabama Academic Team. 

Grimes, a Russellville resident, is currently majoring in Pre-Pharmacy and will graduate from NWSCC this spring. She plans to transfer to the University of Mississippi where she has received the Lyceum Scholarship and plans to pursue a career in Pharmacy.   

Valles, a Rogersville resident, will graduate this spring from NWSCC with an Associate in Science. She will transfer to the University of Alabama where she will be majoring in a Computer Engineering. She plans to become a computer/software engineer. Earlier this spring, she was also named a 2022 Coca-Cola Academic Team Bronze Scholar and will receive a $1,000 scholarship. The Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation sponsors the Coca-Cola Academic Team program by recognizing 50 Gold, 50 Silver, and 50 Bronze Scholars with nearly $200,000 in scholarships annually. 

The faculty and staff of NWSCC nominate students for the All-Alabama Academic Team. The criteria for selecting students is to choose students who “excel academically; demonstrate intellectual rigor in their course of study; show academic growth and potential; and use their two-year college education to better themselves, their schools and their communities.” Each community college in Alabama has two representatives. 

The Alabama College System’s All-Alabama Academic Team Recognition Program was established in 1995 as an enhancement to the All-USA National Academic Team Recognition Program, which is sponsored by the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society, the American Association of Community Colleges and USA Today.