Meet the Ascenders

Marcos Aguilar

Lipscomb University

Bio

Marcos Aguilar is a Nashville native, being born and raised in south Nashville. He is currently at Lipscomb University majoring in Special Education. He is excited to begin his career in education. He wants to begin working with students with disabilities at the middle school level, eventually, working with students at the high school level. Marcos enjoys the practice of mindfulness through the acts of walking or running at parks. ​

Braxton Hobson

University of Tennessee Martin

Bio

Braxton Hobson is a senior at the University of Tennessee at Martin and he is majoring in 6-8 English Education. He is from McKenzie, TN. Braxton wants to be a role model for the students who look like him as well as provide a different perspective for those students who do not. He uses his platforms as the President of his chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. and as a member of the Call Me Mister Scholarship Program to promote and educate those around him, hoping to not only expand everyone’s knowledge but also to inspire them to think differently. Upon graduation, Braxton plans to go straight into teaching somewhere in Tennessee while gaining his Master’s Degree in Library Sciences so that he may achieve his dream of becoming a librarian.

Janae Butler

Tennessee State University

Bio

Janae Butler is senior, majoring in Elementary Education, at Tennessee State University. Her mission is to improve the quality of education as best as she can. Using her platforms such as being the president of Student Tennessee Education Association at Tennessee State University, Janae will bring more awareness to the power and importance of minority educators and students. Once she graduates, Janae plans on becoming a teacher for elementary students and continue her personal education to become a principal and professor. She wants you to know education does not stop at the elementary level. In fact, it goes on and never stops at any level. Teaching has always been from the heart of Janae. Since she was a child, it has always been her passion to make her mark on the world as a powerful educator.

Layla Hogue

Tennessee State University

Bio

Layla Hogue is a junior at Tennessee State University from Memphis, Tennessee. She plans to primarily teach math and science to fourth and fifth graders. Her plans stretch further than being a teacher. She wants to get her Master’s degree in education administration to become a principal.

Maya Cole

Tennessee State University

Bio

​Maya Cole is an honors senior Biology major with a concentration in Secondary Education at the Illustrious Tennessee State University! Maya is hailing all the way from the peach state of Atlanta, Georgia to fulfill her dream of being an educator. Maya will be teaching Biology to middle or high school students upon graduation on May 4th, 2024. Maya hopes teaching helps her get her foot in the education field & allows her to innovate the education system in a dynamic way!

Aaron Morris

University of Tennessee Martin

Bio

Aaron Morris is from Union City, and he’s currently in UTM’s Call Me MiSTER program. He is a junior there, majoring in 6-8 English education. Aaron also has been working at the Boys and Girls Club of NWTN in Union City since November of 2020.

Ayania Owens

Middle Tennessee State University

Bio

Ayania Owens is a junior majoring in Elementary Education and minoring in English at Middle Tennessee State University. She is from Nashville, Tennessee, and went to lower-income and charter schools like Park Avenue and Nashville Prep. These schools molded her into the studious woman she is today and inspired her to be the change in young people's lives like her teachers were. She hopes to teach elementary students in Murfreesboro upon graduation on May 5, 2025. She serves on the inaugural panel of student ambassadors for the College of Education. What she wants to get out of this fellowship is mentors, relationships with similar students, and to be able to have a foot in the door and gain enough knowledge to have a head start against her peers.

Odalys Perez

Trevecca Nazarene University

Bio

Odalys Perez is a Senior at Trevecca Nazarene University in the heart of Nashville where she was born and raised. Odalys is pursuing an Education Degree K-5 with an ESL endorsement, hoping to use her ESL endorsement to teach kindergarten. Odalys is a first-generation student and is the first to receive a degree in higher education. She will go on to be the first to receive a B.S in Education, in a family who has received at the most a middle school education. She intends to inspire children the way her teachers inspired her dreams.

Lani Perez-Santana

Lipscomb University

Bio

Lani is a caring and determined senior at Lipscomb University. She hails from Nashville and aspires to make a meaningful impact on her community. Her transformative journey through high school was guided by her AVID teacher, Ms. Plummer, who played a pivotal role in rekindling Lani's dreams and instilling self-belief in her. Lani eagerly anticipates paying it forward by inspiring and supporting her future students at Overton High School, where she intends to pursue her teaching career.

Yaire Portillo

Lipscomb University

Bio

Yaire Portillo is a local from Nashville, TN. She attends Lipscomb University and is excitedly a senior who looks forward to her graduation in May 2024. Yaire is pursuing her degree to be licensed in secondary mathematics teaching and hopes to work with and teach high school students soon. Some of Yaire's hobbies are playing pickleball and volleyball with friends and attending concerts. She has even been able to take pictures with a few artists!

Karla Zapata

Lipscomb University

Bio

Karla Zapata is an Early Childhood Education major in her junior year at Lipscomb University. She was born in Denver, Colorado but raised in Nashville, Tennessee. She plans to teach Pre-K but is still exploring her options! Fun fact, her favorite dessert is tiramisu.