Three Penn State Adult Learners to Receive Awards

Jan. 31, 2003
University Park, Pa. – Penn State adult learners from Mount Union, New Enterprise and Port Matilda are among the recent graduates who will be honored for their academic achievements by the Pennsylvania Association for Adult Continuing Education (PAACE) at its annual conference in Hershey on Wednesday, Feb. 12.

            The Penn State honorees are Kimberly Cassidy-Miller, a health policy and administration major from Port Matilda who graduated in August 2002; Brenda Potts, a wildlife and fisheries science major from Mount Union who graduated in December 2002; and Zeta Summers, a secondary English education major from New Enterprise who graduated in May 2002.

            "I am thrilled that three of the 11 adult learners receiving awards from PAACE this year are from Penn State and that the University is so well represented by these students," says Charlene Harrison, director of Penn State's Center for Adult Learner Services.  "Many adult learners overcome tremendous obstacles and manage very busy lives in order to complete their education."

            Prior to her graduation, both Cassidy-Miller and her husband were full-time Penn State students sharing the parenting responsibility for two young sons. Scheduling classes, arranging transportation and adjusting work schedules required careful planning. Despite these challenges, she maintained a 3.87 GPA and earned the 2002 Outstanding Adult Student Award from the Center for Adult Learner Services and the Vice President for Student Affairs. She is now a health planner with the North Central Pennsylvania Area Health Education Center.

            Potts started her studies while working full time for Penn State Cooperative Extension and for four years made a 96-mile round trip commute to Penn State Altoona for classes. In 1999, she became a full-time University Park student. She was a founding member of the Friends of Raystown environmental stewardship organization and received numerous grants and scholarships from the College of Agricultural Sciences. She is now a biological sciences technician with the USDA Wildlife Services, headquartered in Summerdale.

            Summers began her studies at Penn State Altoona after a 20-year career in cosmetology and worked as a hairdresser, tutor and work-study student in order to help with family expenses while carrying a full course load. She eventually transferred and began commuting to the University Park campus   two two hours from her home – and maintained a 3.96 GPA in the Schreyer Honors College. She is a freelance writer and an academic/equine education instructor at There's Room in the Inn Boy's Ranch in Warfordsburg, a facility for at-risk boys.

            For more information on Penn State's Center for Adult Learner Services, visit http://www.sa.psu.edu/cals/ ; PAACE is a non-profit educational association whose mission is to help adults achieve lifelong educational goals. For more information on the organization, visit http://www.paacesite.org/

            The other PAACE award recipients at the Feb. 12 event will be: Teresa Cheek and Carol Gooden, of Waynesburg College; Brian Ehly, Sharon Linus and Barbara Moore, of Delaware Valley College; Kathleen Franks and Rosemary Lang, of Arcadia University; and Lucy Swierczek, of Immaculata University.

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Contact: Penn State's Center for Adult Learner Services is at (814) 863-3887.