CCCC student named regional winner for Governor Robert W. Scott Leadership Award

PITTSBORO, N.C. — Student government representative. Nonprofit co-founder. Mentor to other young leaders. 

These are among the many roles embodied by Kayle Maxfield, a Central Carolina Community College and Chatham Early College student, and this year’s Region 4 winner and finalist for the Governor Robert W. Scott Leadership Award presented by the North Carolina Community College Presidents Association. Region 4 includes ten community colleges in the south-central area of the state. 

As part of the North Carolina Comprehensive Community College Student Government Association, Maxfield rallied fellow student lawmakers from across the state to advocate for student representation on community college boards.

She is also a passionate advocate and volunteer for causes including art therapy and environmental protection. Along with her mother, Maxfield co-founded an organization called Advocates for Community Engagement Services that has been involved in a variety of projects, including providing art activities to middle school students and researching potential legislation to prevent water pollution.

At CCCC, Maxfield has served in the Student Senate and as Chatham Early College Student Body President. She has taken on numerous key roles and responsibilities, including working on fall orientation, a critical event for the college.

“During her four years at the Early College, Kayle has been focused not only on her own goals, but also on building systems at both institutions that offer opportunities for students to participate and build their leadership skills,” said Fae Goodman, Chatham Early College Liaison and Anthropology Instructor.

Maxfield said she learned from incredible teachers — like CCCC Instructors Robert Barnes and Yunqiu "Rhyme" Song — in classes like history and public speaking. As her knowledge grew, so did her writing and group project skills, as well as her ability to stay calm when giving a speech or presentation. 

 At the same time, she said, her experiences with student government and clubs helped her discover how to nurture other students’ leadership potential.  

“I had to learn to set up my peers and provide them with the resources they needed to be successful,” she said. 

Looking ahead, Maxfield hopes to pursue a career in law and political leadership. She will attend NC State this fall with a full-ride Park Scholarship after graduating next month with her high school diploma from Chatham Early College and her Associate in Science from CCCC. 

“I’m going to miss it so much,” she said. “It’s such a tight-knit community, no matter the space you are in, especially as an Early College student.”