Foundation Profiles
Flaria Mae LaCourse
Flaria Mae LaCourse is one of two recipients of the Ruth Denham Memorial Scholarship. LaCourse is studying Criminal Justice with plans to work with juveniles. After receiving her associate's degree, LaCourse wants to transfer to a four-year school for a bachelor's degree. "I want to minor in sociology and anthropology so that my options will be plentiful and I will be successful in my employment," she wrote.
Meredith Sams
Meredith Sams, also a Ruth Denham Memorial Scholarship recipient, is studying nursing at A-B Tech. She has been a CNA for nine years and wants to further her education. "I want to be able to continue to do the job that I enjoy, while bettering my family financially. I am determined to reach my goal for both my family and myself," Sams wrote in her essay. She plans to graduate in August of this year.
Kristi Sanborn
Kristi Sanborn received the Ruth Geddings Memorial Scholarship to accomplish her goal of completing the Associate Degree Nursing program. After receiving a bachelor's degree and two master's degrees, with plans for a Ph.D. in a scientific field, she realized her educational goals had changed. "I realized that what I am suited for is human contact," she wrote. "What I really enjoy is helping people understand how a basic knowledge of science can improve everyday lives."
Belinda Hamlin
The Johnathan Giardina Memorial Scholarship was awarded to Belinda Hamlin who plans to graduate from the Emergency Medical Science program in 2006. "I want to be able to help my fellow man when he or she is in a state of emergency. I want my community to be proud of me when the alarm sounds and I am on my way to meet their needs whether urgent or not," she wrote. Hamlin was inducted into Phi Theta Kappa this past fall.
Golden LEAF Approves Funding to Renovate and Equip Biotech Lab
A-B Tech's Biotechnology Chair Toby Mapes shows Susan Seymour, director of the North Carolina Community College System's BioNetwork, a New Brunswick incubating shaker donated by Novo Nordisk that was recently added to the Biotechnology laboratory at the college's Enka campus. A-B Tech has been awarded a grant of $173,585 from the Golden LEAF Foundation for laboratory renovations, equipment and videoconferencing equipment to be used at the Enka campus.
A-B Tech has been approved by the Golden LEAF board to receive a grant of $173,585 for laboratory renovations, equipment and videoconferencing equipment to be used at the Enka campus in the third round of funding.
The A-B Tech Biotechnology Curriculum Laboratory Enhancement Project - Phase III received $50,000 for laboratory renovation and $64,790 for laboratory equipment at the N.C. BioNetwork meeting March 10. The BioNetwork Biotechnology Distance Learning videoconferencing equipment was also funded for $58,795.
The first grant awarded to A-B Tech was in June for $320,000 to create a BioBusiness Center to provide entrepreneurial skills development, incubation support services and coursework in the business and production conditions required to work with biotech companies. The second award, appropriated in December, was for $150,000 to help renovate and equip the biotechnology laboratory.
Golden LEAF provided $8.7 million in startup funding for BioNetwork as part of an overall grant to the Biomanufacturing & Pharmaceutical Training Consortium.
BioBusiness Center Renovations
BioBusiness Center Manager Cheryl Shenaut shares plans for the renovations for the center and the Small Business Center's incubator at the Enka Campus during the North Carolina BioNetwork meeting held March 10.