Kody Joseph Melancon, the son of Raymond Melancon Sr. and the late Eva Lois C. Melancon, graduated with a Master of Arts in education policy and social analysis from Teachers College at Columbia University in the City of New York. Teachers College, America’s oldest and largest school of education, held its commencement convocation at the Cathedral of St. John Divine. Dr. Margaret Kanter, under secretary for the United States Department of Education, served as the keynote speaker.

Elected by the Teachers College Convocation Committee because of his academic leadership service, which was developed at his undergraduate alma mater, Morehouse College, Melancon represented his department and led the processional as a marshal during the ceremony. As a part of the requirements for his degree, Melancon completed a thesis project to investigate how New York City teachers perceive the implementation of single sex classrooms within coeducation schools as a school-based intervention to improve the academic performance of black and Latino boys and to decrease high school dropout rates. Melancon’s academic training at Teachers College includes: policy making and analysis; program design, assessment and evaluation; and applied and empirical research on educational issues.

While at Teachers College, he became the recipient of several awards and scholarships, such as the Martha Elizabeth Carrie Fund Scholarship and Second Century Scholarship. An honor graduate of both Morehouse College and St. James High, Melancon intends to pursue a career focused on advancing new models of teaching and learning and eliminating social problems and inequalities within America’s public schools.