Pierce College students, faculty and staff were honored at Joint Base Lewis-McChord on Nov. 21 at the annual Military Academic Achievement Awards ceremony. Corporal Witchelson Souverain and specialist Davon Gray received the 2024 Military Academic Achievement Award, along with a handful of military students from other colleges at JBLM’s Stone Education Center.
Instructor and classroom support technician Erin Kaech received the 2024 Commander’s Certificate for Distinguished Faculty, and fiscal specialist Shondi Thomas received the 2024 Commander’s Certificate for Distinguished Staff. Pierce College at JBLM provides educational opportunities for active-duty military personnel, and their families, as well as VA benefit recipients and civilians in the community.
CPL Witchelson Souverain
Originally from Haiti, Souverain joined the U.S. Army in 2022 as a private, but his leadership and drive have fast-tracked his military career. Cpl Souverain is a husband, a father, and an accomplished Pierce College student with dreams of one day becoming an astrophysicist and astronaut. Assigned to the 21st Inland Cargo Transfer Company as a petroleum supply specialist, Souverain is a three-time Best in Squad recipient for 2022, 2023 and 2024, and completed the Basic Leader Course in August 2024 while enrolled full-time in the rigorous associate of science degree at Pierce College. Souverain’s student success coach, Yubi Lowjewski, said his “commitment to personal and academic development is unwavering as he serves the country.”
SPC Davon Gray
Spc Gray, who attended the event via video call while on a nine-month deployment in South Korea, is a horizontal construction engineer with the 23rd Brigade Engineer Battalion. In the last three years, Gray has spent more than 1000 hours volunteering in youth programs for students in the North Thurston and Pierce County school districts, which earned him the Military Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal in 2024. He says he volunteers to be the kind of role model for youth that he needed growing up. Gray joined the U.S. Army Reserves in 2017 before transferring to active duty in 2022. He joined the service to serve his country and pursue his educational goal of ultimately earning a Juris Doctorate and becoming a juvenile attorney. The chair of Pierce College’s criminal justice program, Phillip Clingan, said Gray is in the top 5% of students in the program, and is a “fascinating man who gives his community his all.”
You can read more about Davon Gray’s story on our website.
Erin Kaech
Kaech joined Pierce College at JBLM in 2006 after earning a bachelor’s degree in biology and chemistry from Drury University. As an Instruction and Classroom Support Tech for the science labs at Stone Education Center, Kaech has helped thousands of students in her 18-year career at Pierce College. After earning her master’s degree in bioinformatics, Kaech began teaching biology and chemistry courses at Pierce College at JBLM. Kaech says science is not only her profession, but also her passion; and she finds deep fulfillment when former students return to share their successes.
Shondi Thomas
A Veteran of the U.S. Army, Thomas said she wanted to work with military students to continue the family legacy of service going back generations. Thomas joined Pierce College at JBLM in 2023 as a Fiscal Specialist and quickly became essential in the College’s conversion to a new technology system. Interim Executive Director of Pierce College at JBLM, Kelly Benson said Thomas “exemplifies the commitment to our mission.” Recently, Thomas dedicated herself to advancing her own education and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Higher Education Leadership and Administration.
