Community College announces new faculty

St. Johns River Community College told local Historic City News reporters that they have welcomed six new faculty members to the St. Augustine campus this fall.

Bonnie Aspinwall
Aspinwall teaches mathematics full time on the St. Augustine campus. She holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from the University of Florida and is working toward her master’s degree in math education at the University of North Florida. Aspinwall has been an adjunct instructor at SJRCC for three years and also served as the director of the math lab at Flagler College. Her experience also includes working as a resource manager for a large computer software company, and she is proud to announce that she was a member of the first Lady Gators basketball team. Aspinwall volunteers for the Sertoma Club, a service organization, in her spare time.

Christy Furr
Furr joins the College full time on the Palatka and St. Augustine campuses as a humanities instructor after serving as an adjunct instructor for several years. She earned her master’s degree in humanities from California State University, Dominguez Hills.

Dr. Bettycep Gailbreath
Gailbreath teaches chemistry on the St. Augustine campus. She earned her bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Clemson University and her doctorate degree in organic chemistry from Northern Illinois University. Gailbreath was previously employed by the St. Johns County School District, where she worked as a substitute teacher. Gailbreath is also an Odyssey of the Mind middle school coach, a position which enables her to help students think outside of the box and apply teamwork and problem solving skills to their school activities.

James McCaughern-Carucci
McCaughern-Carucci teaches anatomy and physiology courses on the Orange Park and St. Augustine campuses.

Dr. Krista Ubbels
Ubbels joins the St. Augustine campus faculty as a full-time humanities instructor after serving many years as an adjunct instructor for the College. Dr. Ubbels has also taught at Flagler College and Penn State University. She earned her master’s degree in the classics-art history from the University of Glasgow, Scotland, and her doctorate degree in interdisciplinary humanities from Penn State University. As an artist, Dr. Ubbels has had illustrations published in various history and archaeology books. She won the Penn State Art History Scholarship and paid research to Greece for her dissertation, received an award in art history as an undergraduate, and received “Best Work in Show” for the Honors Exhibition. She is trained in Dutch, French and German languages and has achieved certification in the National Dutch Language Exam.

Dr. Luwana Woodward
Woodward teaches computer and mathematics courses on the St. Augustine and Orange Park campuses. She holds a master’s degree in computer science from Virginia Tech, a master’s degree in mathematics from Vanderbilt University, and a doctorate in computer science from the Florida Institute of Technology. Dr. Woodward joins the College after a career with ObjectFX, where she worked as a software engineer.

Additional positions announced at SJRCC include Teacher Education Specialist Jackie Bodiford and Dual Enrollment Specialist Tate West.

Bodiford works in the Teacher Education Office, where she counsels students entering the EPI program and assists in placing EPI teacher candidates in surrounding schools for field experience. A graduate of SJRCC’s first EPI program, Bodiford taught special education to elementary students in the Putnam County School District for three years and was named Teacher of the Year in 2007-2008. She holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration and marketing from Webber International University and most recently worked in the SJRCC Business Office.

West is the new dual enrollment specialist for the College’s Open Campus. He received his bachelor’s degree in business administration from St. Leo University and most recently worked as a manager trainee for Aaron’s Sales and Lease in Palatka. Prior to that, he worked at Bokay Manufacturing for 10 years. West is currently working toward his personal training certification from the American Fitness Training of Athletics (AFTA).