VNA Awards Third Undergraduate Nursing Scholarship

“We’re happy to have people like you going into the nursing field,” Carole Polcyn, Visiting Nurse Association (VNA) of Newtown Scholarship Committee member told Katie Pessin, Monday, August 27, as Ms Polcyn and VNA scholarship Chairman Sally Schwerdtle congratulated the 2010 Newtown High School graduate, and awarded her on behalf of the scholarship committee and the board of directors with the Newtown VNA Scholarship for $2,000.

Katie is currently enrolled in her junior year at Central Connecticut State University (CCSU) Nursing Program and is starting the clinicals portion of her studies. In addition to pursuing her registered nurse degree, she is the goalie for CCSU’s Division I Blue Devils Women’s Soccer team, and a board member of the student’s Central Activity Network.

This past summer, Katie was a counselor at the Newtown Youth Academy, and a volunteer in the Danbury Hospital Emergency Ward.

The Newtown VNA awards three scholarships each year to graduating Newtown High School seniors pursuing a career in the field of nursing. That scholarship money is awarded when the student begins clinicals, usually the end of the second or beginning of the third year in school.

Earlier this year, 2010 Newtown High School graduates Kyle O’Connor and Samantha Allen received scholarships from the VNA of Newtown. Kyle was awarded the Anna E. Clow Scholarship from the VNA of Newtown, and Samantha was awarded the Janice B. Von Syckle Scholarship.

A fourth $4,000 scholarship is given to a Newtown resident resuming or continuing academic studies in nursing.

Since 1972, the Newtown VNA has awarded $144,250 in scholarships to Newtown students entering the field of nursing.

For more information on the Newtown VNA Scholarship program, write to Scholarship Committee Chairman, Newtown Visiting Nurse Association, Edmond Town Hall, 45 Main Street, Newtown CT 06470, attention: Anna Wiedemann.