Garner honored as Outstanding Faculty at PCCUA
Growing up, Christina Garner would play “teacher” in her mother’s classroom at PCCUA, aspiring to be like her mother, Monica Quattlebaum, and her grandfather, James Brasel, a former PCCUA instructor and administrator who offered encouragement and support for her to continue her education.
Since 2019, Garner has served as a Medical Laboratory Technology and phlebotomy instructor at PCCUA for the program that she was once a graduate of, and she never imagined the impact her students would have on her life.
In this capacity, her duties include reviewing and designing curriculum to teach courses in clinical chemistry, immunology and immunohematology, phlebotomy procedures, instrumentation, and phlebotomy. She is also a gifted mentor to her students and goes above and beyond to not only teach them, but also to help them grow as individuals.
Garner always knew she wanted to go into the medical field, but when she discovered the MLTprogram, she found her calling. She graduated from PCCUA in May 2011 and completed her bachelor’s degree in May 2015 from UAMS. After becoming a full-time instructor at PCCUA, she decided to continue her education and completed her Master’s degree from Capella University in March 2023.
“Teaching is in my blood,” she stated. “When given the opportunity to teach at the same community college as my mom and grandfather, I jumped at the chance. Nothing compares to returning to your alma mater to teach for a program that you once were a graduate of and has been such a huge part of your life. Despite the nervousness and uncertainties, teaching has been one of the best decisions I have ever made. At the time, I did not realize the significance of teaching and the impact and influence working with students would have on me. It is true that instructors need their students just as much as the students need their instructors.”
Brasel, who has since passed away, was very proud when Garner accepted the teaching position at the college, because he now had his daughter and granddaughter at the college doing what he spent his life doing.
Garner is married to Joe Garner and has one daughter, Marlee Jo. Outside her work, Garner is very active at DeSoto School (school board member, Booster Club, and room mother) and Second Baptist Church with children’s ministry, the AWANA program, and many other ministries within the church. Any extra time is spent with her family.
