Sedalia, Missouri – May 22, 2020 – Against the backdrop of an unprecedented pandemic, State Fair Community College held a poignant online pinning ceremony May 15 for its Health Science students who had achieved their educational goals in nursing, radiology, sonography, dental hygiene, or medical information technology. As each student’s name was announced by the respective program director, parents, grandparents, siblings, spouses, children, aunts, uncles, cousins, or partners proudly did the pinning.
From this group, nine nursing students have the distinction of being the first to be pinned and to graduate from the SFCC-Clinton campus.
Kristina Conaway, Shayla Sommer, Shelby Williams, all from Clinton
Zachary Groder, Stephanie Long, all from Warrensburg
Ricardo Leal from Preston
Macy Ott from Osceola
Chelsea Riley, Shiree Sherrill, all from Warsaw
The opportunity for these students to reach their educational goals close to home and to strengthen the area healthcare workforce was made possible because of a generous donation in 2018 from Golden Valley Memorial Hospital (GVMH) and funds from the MO Excels grant championed by Governor Mike Parson. This support, along with other clinical partnerships, allowed SFCC to expand its #1-ranked Nursing program in the state to Clinton.
“We are so excited to celebrate this milestone for the first nursing graduates from our Clinton campus,” said Dr. Rhonda Hutton Gann, SFCC’s dean of Health Sciences. “We are so thankful for the community support that helped to make this happen.”
Allison Brosch, SFCC’s Associate of Degree Nursing (RN) program director, shared her perspective on this momentous event for the SFCC-Clinton campus.
“Graduating new nurses is always an exciting event, but since this is the first graduating class from our Clinton campus and it fell during a pandemic, it has been even more memorable,” Brosch commented. “The Nursing program in Clinton wouldn’t have been possible without the amazing partnerships and support from within the Clinton community along with clinical education partnerships in surrounding areas.
“Dr. Meg Beebe and Rebecca Herman (SFCC nursing instructors), along with the staff at the Clinton campus, have done a tremendous job of educating and supporting the students as they navigated our rigorous program. Students did a superb job of being flexible this semester and finishing strong.
“As an institution on a mission to serve our community, we are thrilled that our Clinton nursing graduates are well-trained and prepared to enter the nursing profession in local healthcare agencies.”
So far, the Clinton graduates have indicated they will be working at facilities such as GVMH in Clinton, Centerpoint in Independence,
Missouri Veterans Home in Warrensburg, Citizen’s Memorial Hospital in Bolivar, and Warsaw-Lincoln Ambulance District.
For more information about SFCC’s Nursing program, visit www.sfccmo.edu/nursing.
