Georgia Nurses Foundation awards scholarship to GNTC

November 21, 2023

A Georgia Northwestern Technical College (GNTC) student has received a scholarship from the Georgia Nurses Foundation.

The Georgia Nurses Foundation (GNF) has awarded the Amerigroup Rural Georgia Nursing Scholarship for $2,700 to Kymberly Davis-Grahn, who is expected to earn her associate degree in Nursing in December 2023. She attends classes at GNTC’s Walker County Campus in Rock Spring.

“The entire faculty is proud of Kymberly and honored that GNTC was chosen to receive this scholarship,” said Michelle Spears-Sevy, Registered Nursing program administrator and instructor at GNTC. “We hope that there will be opportunities in the future to see even more of our students recognized.”

“Kymberly has been an exemplary student throughout her tenure in the Associate of Science in Nursing program,” Spears-Sevy said. “She has served as a leader among her peers in both formal and informal capacities. Kym was elected class representative during her first year in the program and has faithfully advocated for herself and her classmates in a thoughtful and professional manner through attendance at monthly faculty meetings.”

Davis-Grahn and her classmates wrote a “survival guide” for this year’s incoming freshmen. She has gone out of her way to mentor first year students and has encouraged her classmates to do the same.

“Kymberly has done all of this while maintaining her own grades, continuing to work, raising a family and projecting a consistently positive and hopeful attitude,” Spears-Sevy said.

(From left) Michelle Spears-Sevy, Registered Nursing program administrator and instructor at GNTC; Kymberly Davis-Grahn, a student in the Associate of Science in Nursing program at GNTC; Dr. Heidi Popham, GNTC president; and Jennifer Loudermilk, associate vice president of Academic Affairs at GNTC, celebrate Davis-Grahn receiving the Amerigroup Rural Georgia Nursing Scholarship.
(From left) Michelle Spears-Sevy, Registered Nursing program administrator and instructor at GNTC; Kymberly Davis-Grahn, a student in the Associate of Science in Nursing program at GNTC; Dr. Heidi Popham, GNTC president; and Jennifer Loudermilk, associate vice president of Academic Affairs at GNTC, celebrate Davis-Grahn receiving the Amerigroup Rural Georgia Nursing Scholarship.

Health insurance provider Amerigroup awarded $35,000 to the Georgia Nurses Foundation (GNF) in 2022 to support development of the nursing workforce in rural and underserved areas of Georgia.

“GNTC is one of 10 institutions in the Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG) system to receive this scholarship,” Spears-Sevy said. “We consider this to be recognition of the contribution that our nursing graduates make to their local communities.”

As a condition of the scholarship, Davis-Grahn must graduate from the ASN program with cumulative GPA of 2.5 or higher. Following graduation, she must obtain state licensure within five months of graduation and work as full-time (minimum of 30 hours per week) as a Registered Nurse (RN) in a critical access hospital, rural health clinic, federally qualified health center, public health department, school-based clinic, community service board, providers’ office or other employer of RNs based in a rural county for two years after licensure.

Davis-Grahn also received a GNTC Foundation Scholarship for the summer 2021 semester; the GNTC Foundation Scholarship is for outstanding students with financial need who are enrolled in any program of study leading to a degree, diploma or certificate. 

Georgia Northwestern Technical College provides quality workforce education to the citizens of northwest Georgia. Students have the opportunity to earn an associate degree, diploma or a certificate in aviation, business, health, industrial or public service career paths. This past year, 11,601 people benefited from GNTC’s credit and noncredit programs. GNTC has an annual credit enrollment of 8,071 students and an additional enrollment of 3,530 people through adult education, continuing education, business and industry training and Georgia Quick Start. GNTC is a unit of the Technical College System of Georgia and an Equal Opportunity Institution. 

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