Hardin County Schools will continue its tradition of honoring five graduates with HCS Distinguished Alumni Awards at a luncheon on Thursday, September 25, 2026, at the Hardin County Schools Early College and Career Center.
“We are thankful for all of the nominations we received,” HCS Community Relations Specialist John Wright said. “We are proud of all HCS alums and the success they have achieved. These five individuals are a true representation of how HCS graduates utilize their curricular, co-curricular, and extracurricular experiences to excel in their chosen career fields and communities. We look forward to honoring them next month.”
HCS will recognize the following alumni:
Sara Jo (Ritchie) Best, Central Hardin High School, Class of 1993
Joi Craig, North Hardin High School, Class of 2015
Aaron Dale, North Hardin High School, Class of 1991
Detective William Smallwood, Central Hardin High School, Class of 2005
Dr. Jesse Vance, Central Hardin High School, Class of 2004
Sara Jo (Ritchie) Best
Sara Jo (Ritchie) Best is a 1993 graduate of Central Hardin High School.
Mrs. Best is the Public Health Director of the Lincoln Trail District Health Department. She has dedicated more than two decades to improving the health of Kentuckians through visionary leadership, public service, and unwavering advocacy. Throughout her distinguished career with the Lincoln Trail District Health Department, she has become one of Kentucky's most respected public health leaders, influencing public health policy and practice at the local, state, and national levels.
She has served in her current role since 2013. Her leadership oversees an annual budget exceeding $14 million and more than 100 employees for a six-county district serving more than 230,000 residents. She directs the operations of six public health centers and numerous community health programs. The health department has strengthened community partnerships, expanded essential public health services, enhanced organizational effectiveness and successfully navigated some of the most significant public health challenges in modern history.
Mrs. Best has developed emergency response plans, coordinated Strategic National Stockpile preparedness, led disaster planning efforts, and trained healthcare providers, schools, nursing homes and emergency response agencies throughout the region.
Mrs. Best has advocated at the national level for sustained investment in essential public health programs, including the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), while educating federal leaders about the consequences of reductions in Centers for Disease Control and Prevention funding on disease surveillance, emergency preparedness, and local outbreak response. She is leading Kentucky's participation in the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) Hill Day in Washington, D.C., ensuring Kentucky's local public health leaders have a strong voice in national policy discussions.
She has led advocacy efforts among all 61 Kentucky local health departments to educate legislators about the value and impact of public health. She organized statewide advocacy campaigns supporting public health transformation funding and pension sustainability while developing educational materials that unified messaging across Kentucky.
She currently serves as the Past President and Advocacy Chair of the Kentucky Health Departments Association, the Community Advisory Council for the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky, and the University of Kentucky College of Public Health Board of Advisors.
Joi’ Craig
Joi’ Craig is a 2015 graduate of North Hardin High School.
She has dedicated her career to empowering students, developing future leaders and creating opportunities that extend far beyond the classroom.
Ms. Craig currently serves as the Director of Student Life at Simmons College of Kentucky. She is responsible for creating transformative experiences that foster student engagement, leadership development, school spirit and campus belonging. She leads initiatives including student organizations, the Student Government Association, Greek Life, Royal Court, Welcome Week, Homecoming, leadership development programs and campus-wide events that directly influence student retention and success.
Ms. Craig’s commitment to higher education is evident through her service at four colleges and universities across the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Each institution has benefited from her innovative leadership, collaborative spirit, and student-centered approach. Under her leadership, Simmons College has experienced a revitalization of student life through innovative programming designed to meet the needs of today’s students. She has developed culturally relevant programming, leadership workshops, scholarship initiatives, community service opportunities and campus traditions.
Throughout her career in higher education, she has served as a mentor to countless first-generation college students, many of whom come from underserved communities. Her mentorship has inspired students to pursue graduate education, professional careers and civic engagement.
She is an active member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated. Her commitment to serving others extends beyond professional responsibilities, reflecting her belief that leadership is measured not only by accomplishments but also by the positive impact one has on the lives of others.
Through her business, Joi of All Trades, she provides consulting, administrative support, event planning, branding and professional development services to businesses, nonprofits and educational organizations. She helps organizations improve their operations while mentoring aspiring entrepreneurs and young professionals.
Aaron Dale
Aaron Dale is a 1991 graduate of North Hardin High School.
Mr. Dale is internationally recognized as a music educator, arranger, clinician and coach in the a cappella community. He has served on the faculty of a cappella seminars and conventions and has taught and coached ensembles throughout the United States, Europe and New Zealand. He has also served as a guest clinician for youth music camps, harmony festivals, and educational workshops.
As an arranger and composer, Mr. Dale’s work has reached audiences across the globe, performed by thousands of ensembles, including world-renowned a cappella and barbershop groups. He has produced hundreds of vocal learning recordings used worldwide as educational tools for singers at all levels.
Mr. Dale has taught in Hardin County Schools since 2002 and is currently the music teacher at G.C. Burkhead Elementary School, as well as a member of the Central Hardin High School band staff. Throughout his career, he has directed elementary choirs, percussion ensembles, vocal groups, and
community choruses, including the local Heart of Kentucky Chorus. Many of his former students have continued their musical studies in college, become educators themselves, perform professionally, or remain active in music in their local communities.
His contributions extend into instrumental music, where he has been a percussion composer and arranger for three decades. His published percussion compositions are performed by both high school and collegiate ensembles, and he continues to mentor young percussionists through private instruction.
For his a cappella and barbershop contributions, Mr. Dale earned the Barbershop Harmony Society Lifetime Achievement Award for Arrangers in 2020 and was inducted into the Barbershop Harmony Society Hall of Fame in 2024.
Detective William Smallwood
Detective William Smallwood is a 2005 graduate of Central Hardin High School.
He is a detective for the Louisville Metro Police Department.
He earned his bachelor’s degree from Campbellsville University and worked for a company in Louisville doing industrial maintenance before joining the Louisville Metro Police Department in 2017. He served as a patrol officer for seven years before becoming a division detective in 2024. He has served on the department’s Peer Support Team for nearly three years.
He received the Medal of Valor for his actions during the 2023 Old National Bank shooting and a Meritorious Unit Citation. He was the third responder to arrive on the scene where the active shooter killed five employees and injured eight others. The incident claimed the career of LMPD officer Nick Wilt. It did not claim his life because of the quick work of Detective Smallwood and Officer Jay Moss. The two placed Officer Wilt in the back of their car and sped toward University of Louisville Hospital.
Even though he works and resides in Louisville, he still has a huge place in his heart for Hardin County and the people who live here. He is a lifelong member of the Central Kentucky Rods and Machine Car Club. Each year, the car club has a Christmas for Kids car show that provides Christmas presents for children and families who are in need in Hardin and LaRue counties. He is also a National Street Rod Association official.
Dr. Jesse Vance
Dr. Jesse Vance is a 2004 graduate of Central Hardin High School.
He earned a Doctor of Pharmacy degree and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Kentucky in 2010. As a pharmacy student, he received the Melody and Stephen J. Ryan Travel Award to study international business in Vienna, Austria. Upon graduation, he dedicated his time to global and community health, serving on medical missions with Shoulder-to-Shoulder Global in Ecuador, and helping to establish and operate a free medical clinic in an underserved area of Amarillo, Texas.
Dr. Vance then transitioned to medical school at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso, where he graduated first in his class in 2020. During his medical training, he served as the executive director of a free medical clinic serving migrant farmworkers. He also achieved significant national recognition, earning the prestigious American Medical Association Foundation Physicians of Tomorrow General Scholarship. Additionally, his excellence in academics and humanistic care led to his induction into both the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society and the Gold Humanism Honor Society. He completed an Internal Medicine residency at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, and a subspecialty fellowship in Infectious Disease at Duke University.
Today, he is the Medical Director of Infectious Disease and the Vice Chair of Medicine at the University of Kentucky’s St. Claire Hospital in Morehead, Kentucky. An active researcher and educator throughout his journey as a medical student and physician, Dr. Vance has published numerous articles, written textbook chapters, and contributed to the development of guidelines for clinical infectious disease practice. He combines this strong academic and clinical pharmacology background with medical leadership, directing both the antimicrobial stewardship and infection prevention committees at UK St. Claire to elevate patient care standards across Eastern Kentucky.
Outside of his professional roles, Dr. Vance is deeply rooted in the Morehead community, where he and his family have resided since June 2025.