During the Carrier Mills-Stonefort High School Wall of Fame Ceremony, the Distinguished Alumni Award was presented to Mrs. Amy Murphy (Capel). The Distinguished Alumni Award is given to a CMSF student that has gone on to have a successful professional career once graduating from the Carrier Mills-Stonefort High School.
This year's recipient, Amy Jo Capel, was born on August 2, 1960, to Don and Carolyn Capel of Carrier Mills. Amy graduated from the Carrier Mills-Stonefort High School in 1978. After graduation, she attended the practical and associate degree nursing programs at SIC. Her career included hospital nursing and community/home health nursing. Amy married Glenn Murphy in 1983 and they have two wonderful children (Nathan and Brynna).
A few years later, she attended McKendree University for a Bachelor’s in Science of Nursing. In January of 2000, SIC asked Mrs. Murphy to fill in for one semester. She reluctantly agreed feeling that education was not where she wanted to focus the rest of her career. The one-semester agreement has now turned into a 24-year higher education experience that has been more rewarding than she could ever imagine. For the first seven years, Amy provided tutoring for nursing students and was an instructor for the high school health occupation programs. In 2007, Mrs. Murphy began teaching full time in the licensed practical nursing program. Later she applied and attended the University of Southern Indiana to obtain a master’s degree in nursing education with emphasis on education. In 2012, she was offered an interim position as the director of nursing at SIC when Mrs. Gina Sirach was promoted to Dean of Academic Services. Again, Amy reluctantly agreed, but continued teaching in the practical and associate degree in nursing programs. The interim position became permanent and she is now the associate dean of nursing and allied health at Southeastern Illinois College.
Mrs. Murphy has three very active grandchildren (Lillian, Marya, and Gavin).
The Carrier Mills-Stonefort faculty, staff, and administration would like to congratulate Mrs. Murphy on earning the 2023 Distinguished Alumni Award.