Tuscora Park Health and Wellness Foundation Celebrates 2022 Nursing Scholarship Recipients

Tuscora Park Health and Wellness Foundation Celebrates 2022 Nursing Scholarship Recipients

by | Jul 18, 2022 | Scholarships

Tuscora Park Health and Wellness Foundation Celebrates the 2022 Nursing Scholarship Awardees

Scholarship event photos:

Tuscora Park Health and Wellness Foundation awarded $38,800 to 10 nursing students on Wednesday, July 13, 2022. Members of the foundation’s board of governors and donors joined the students and their families for a celebratory scholarship luncheon at LaLa’s in the Lakes.

Dr. Doug Gormley, a past-president on the board of governors, said that he enjoyed meeting in person again. “It has been two years since we’ve been able to gather to congratulate these students. It is wonderful to enjoy a meal with them, learn about their progress in school and see the pride in their parents’ faces. As a donor and a board member, today is about celebrating and supporting them.”

Tuscora Park Health and Wellness Foundation’s scholarship model allows students to apply for scholarships every year they are in an accredited nursing program. Several of the students have received scholarships in previous years.

Mary Jo Goss, a registered nurse and member of the board of governors, said it’s rewarding to see the students’ progress through the years of their studies. “I am particularly proud of the growth I have seen in Zack Scalf,” she said. “He has been a recipient of our scholarships for three years now and in his senior year, his maturity stands out. I believe he is going to do well.”

Mary Jo asked the final-year students to share a favorite or memorable moment from one of their nursing experiences. Students shared memories of their first shifts in trauma care, providing support at vaccine clinics and the joy of caring for a new baby. She said, “As you continue your journey in this career, over the years you’ll be faced with many challenges. I want you to remember the story you shared today and pull strength from it.”

Tuscora Park Health and Wellness Foundation is proud introduce the 2022 scholarship recipients:

  • Todd Besse is a junior attending The University of Akron; he received a Tuscora Park Health and Wellness Nursing Scholarship.
  • Sophie Burns is a senior attending The Ohio State University; she received the Scholarship in Memory of Emma Rist, RN and The Christine Elaine Weigand RN Memorial Scholarship.
  • Molly Cunningham is a sophomore attending Kent State University at Stark; she received the Kovalchin Memorial Scholarship and a Tuscora Park Health and Wellness Nursing Scholarship.
  • Madeline Gay, a senior at Malone University, received a Tuscora Park Health and Wellness Nursing Scholarship.
  • Sydney Graffice is a senior at the University of Mount Union; she received a Kovalchin Memorial Scholarship and a Tuscora Park Health and Wellness Nursing Scholarship.
  • Christina Maldonado is a sophomore attending Kent State University; she received a Kovalchin Memorial Scholarship and a Tuscora Park Health and Wellness Nursing Scholarship.
  • Madeleine Ray, a sophomore attending The University of Akron, received a Tuscora Park Health and Wellness Nursing Scholarship.
  • Macy Ries, a senior attending The University of Akron, received a Tuscora Park Health and Wellness Nursing Scholarship.
  • Zachary Scalf is a senior at Hiram University; he received the Carol A. Storad Nursing Excellence Scholarship.
  • Layah Taylor is a sophomore attending The University of Akron; she received a Tuscora Park Health and Wellness Nursing Scholarship.

About the scholarships:

The Bernadine H. Kovalchin, R.N. Scholarship Fund honors Kovalchin, who was an RN at Barberton Citizens Hospital with 13 years’ service, leaving in 1971 as Assistant Coordinator of Nursing Education. She was a longtime local high school instructor of Vocational Medical Careers Training and worked as a school nurse.

The committee recognizes another commendable nurse with the “Scholarship in Memory of Emma Rist. Rist was head nurse of the Coronary Care Unit at Barberton Citizens Hospital and was very dedicated to the nursing profession.

The Carol A. Storad Nursing Excellence Award recognizes an exemplary woman who began as a staff nurse and retired as Chief Nursing Officer at Barberton Citizens Hospital, serving for 43-years total. After retiring she taught high school students interested in pursuing a nursing career as part of a four-city compact program and was affiliated with the University of Akron.

The Christine Elaine Weigand RN Memorial Scholarship is meant to help future nurses overcome obstacles and to achieve their dreams.  She was an extraordinary clinician who spent 30 years as an RN, working as a charge nurse, as a preceptor for new RN employees, and as a care manager on the 5100 unit and in the emergency room at Akron General Medical Center (now Cleveland Clinic Akron General). She was active in NAON (National Association of Orthopedic Nurses) and was honored with an Excellence in Nursing award during Nurses Week in 2002.

White Rabbit Galleries Establishes a New Scholarship

White Rabbit Galleries Establishes a New Scholarship

by | Jan 5, 2022 | Announcements, Fund, Scholarships

Barberton Community Foundation Logo

White Rabbit Galleries Establishes a New Scholarship

Barberton Community Foundation is pleased to announce the White Rabbit Galleries Scholarship Fund established by Laura Smith and Molly Brown. This scholarship is dedicated to supporting the local Arts and Artists in Barberton by assisting Barberton students pursuing an arts degree.

White Rabbit Galleries, women-owned and established in January 2021, is located at 571 W. Tuscarawas Ave. It is operated by Laura Smith and her daughter, Molly Brown. In addition to a large public gallery, they rent space to seven artists and curate a regular schedule of shows. Molly is a full-time artist, previously working as a resident artist of Summit Artspace on Tusc. When Summit Artspace closed their gallery in 2020, Molly and Laura had a vision for a fresh start.

“When Molly and I talked about it, we knew we needed to be vocal about supporting the arts. We know how much support athletics gets in Barberton,” said Laura. “We wanted to send a message to kids: the arts are valuable, too.”  

Their first show was the Student Art Show in April 2021. Then in May, Tracy Marsh approached them for a memorial show for his wife, and the Carol Marsh Memorial Show kicked off their grand opening. Proceeds from the show and an additional gift in honor of Suzanne Jones Richardson provided the initial principle for the scholarship.

“White Rabbit is more than a gallery,” Molly said. “We want to make a bridge for the artist to the community.” She is proud of their subheading: Community Art Center. “We put the emphasis on community,” she said.

Molly graduated from Barberton High School, where she attended art classes taught by Ron White. She credits his teaching with declaring art as her major in college and completing her BA in Studio Arts. “I had a fantastic experience with the arts when I went to BHS. We had a fully functional darkroom for photography. That’s what really got me started. We have drawing, glass, metal working and ceramics because of Ron White. Other schools don’t have the creative experiences that we have in Barberton.” She added, “He taught me how to offer and take constructive criticism; something you don’t normally learn how to do until college.”

Molly hopes this scholarship will reflect her family’s broader mission at White Rabbit Galleries: to help students have confidence and a bridge to art.

This bridge will need support.  Laura changed her career choice from an art focus when she was in college because she didn’t feel supported. She looked at her daughter and said, “But I changed my life so that I could support my kids.” This is a generational change in the family. Laura wanted her daughter to be able to pursue an arts degree because she understood that desire not being able to pursue it. “As a parent, what you hear about scholarships is, you’re either smart, or athletic. You don’t see encouragement for art. This is such a blue-collar, hard-working community. But art is hard work too. You don’t have to appreciate all of it; art is just as important an outlet as therapy. It’s necessary.”

Laura hopes the scholarship will be a good start to supporting young local artists. White Rabbit Galleries is planning a student show in the spring and hopes to encourage young artists to utilize the consignment option at the front of the building.

Currently, White Rabbit Galleries is hosting their Squared Fundraising Show. The theme of the show is just that – square. Every art piece must be square – and prices are set by size varying from 5×5 to larger pieces. The show runs until January 22. Then, in February, they will host the Remarkable Diner Artist Collective, featuring Lance Apple, Jack Hickson and Dennis and Denise Lundell. “We are incredibly excited,” said Molly. “We’re all looking forward to seeing what comes next. There are a lot of possibilities for this space.”

White Rabbit Galleries Scholarship Fund celebrates those who have supported the arts. Scholarships are given in memory of Suzanne Jones Richardson and Carol Marsh. If you would like to support this fund, please give us a call or you can donate now. They hope to make their first scholarship award this spring.

Christine Elaine Weigand RN Memorial Scholarship

Christine Elaine Weigand RN Memorial Scholarship

by | Apr 5, 2021 | Scholarships

Tuscora Park Health and Wellness Foundation is proud to announce the Christine Elaine Weigand RN Memorial Scholarship.

Robert Weigand started the scholarship, housed at TPHWF, to honor his wife’s legacy as a nurse and caregiver.

Christine’s nursing career is best defined by the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson, “To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived, this is to have succeeded.”

Indeed, Christine succeeded. She had always dreamed of being a caregiver for others and through her career as a registered nurse, she would realize this dream, “going the extra mile” for patients and touching the hearts of many.

Christine endured many personal health challenges, including juvenile diabetes and receiving a Life Banc kidney and pancreas transplant in 2006. Despite these challenges, she was an extraordinary clinician. She spent 30 years as an RN working as a charge nurse, preceptor for new RN employees, and as a care manager on the 5100 unit and in the emergency room at Akron General Medical Center (now Cleveland Clinic Akron General).

She was active in NAON (National Association of Orthopedic Nurses) and was honored with an Excellence in Nursing award during Nurses Week in 2002. She actively participated in Life Banc and Meals on Wheels.

The Christine Elaine Weigand RN Memorial Scholarship is meant to help future nurses overcome obstacles and to achieve their dreams. It provides one $2,000 scholarship each school year to a student in an accredited nursing program, who is a graduate of Barberton, Copley, Norton, Wadsworth, Rittman, Chippewa, Kenmore-Garfield, Coventry, Manchester, Northwest, or Green High School.

Robert Weigand hopes recipients will “go the extra mile” just as Christine did. He said, “If everyone went the ‘extra mile’ today, what a wonderful world we would live in.”

For a scholarship application, go online to barbertoncf.org and click on the Tuscora Park Health and Wellness Foundation’s page, or call 330-745-5995.

To make a donation to the scholarship, call 330-745-5995 or mail a check to Barberton Community Foundation at 460 W. Paige Ave. Barberton, OH 44203 make the check payable to the Tuscora Park Health and Wellness Foundation, in the memo specify the donation is made to the Christine Weigand Memorial Scholarship.