Four Allegany County Students Recognized With Frostburg State University Honors

2014 Jun 9

Four local students were among the graduate and undergraduate students recognized at Frostburg State University's Honors Convocation in May.

Katie Dignan of Cumberland, who received departmental honors in political science, served as a Bobcat Ambassador and as a head resident advisor for FSU. She is a member of the President's Leadership Circle and is a certified diversity trainer for the University's Speak UP program and the National Coalition Building Institute. Dignan plans to attend graduate school to obtain an advanced degree in higher education administration. Her career goal is to work in the realm of student affairs. A graduate of Bishop Walsh School, she is the daughter of Mark and Janet Dignan.

Kyle Helmstetter of Cumberland, who received graduate program honors in applied computer science, earned a bachelor's in computer information systems from FSU in 2013. While working on his master's, he was part of a team that designed and implemented a networked chess service that dynamically handles simultaneous chess games between pairs of clients. Helmstetter also developed two separate database-driven social media content managing websites primarily using PHP for one website and Ruby on Rails for the other. He was president of the Frostburg chapter of Upsilon Pi Epsilon, the international honor society for the computing and information disciplines, and was on the dean's list every semester. A graduate of Bishop Walsh School, he is the son of Kevin and Cherie Helmstetter.

Heather Peters of Cumberland, who received graduate program honors in administration and supervision, earned a bachelor's in early childhood and elementary education from FSU in 2006. As a veteran teacher with seven years of experience in the Allegany County Public Schools, she teaches fourth grade at Northeast Elementary School. She is co-chair of the Partnership Action Team that provides parents with activities to support student achievement, chair of the school recycling program and chair of the school health committee. As a member of the Northeast School Improvement Team, Peters was recently selected as the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math representative for the Educator Effectiveness Academy. Her career goal is to become a future administrator during her career as an education. A graduate of Frankfort High School in Short Gap, W.Va., she is the daughter of Buddy and Rita Rowan of Ridgeley.

Janelle Walbert of Frostburg, who received departmental honors in athletic training, distinguished herself as an outstanding athletic training major and showed herself to be an extremely mature, dedicated, inquisitive and proactive learner in her clinical education. Last year she received the Derek Sheely Leadership Scholarship, which included working with area high schools to help them better manage concussions. She has been on the dean's list every semester and in 2012 participated in the Sloop Institute for Excellence in Leadership. Next year Walbert will begin working on her doctorate at the University of Pittsburgh. She plans to become a physical therapist. A graduate of Mountain Ridge High School, she is the daughter of Jay and Janet Walbert.