Highmark Scholarship recipients announced

Three local residents, Northampton Community College (NCC) nursing students, were awarded a Highmark Blue Shield Frontline Worker Scholarship for the 2021-22 school year. In their final year of college, recipients Frank Ascione III, Stacy Long and Liz Salvadore are on track to graduate this winter as registered nurses.

Ascione III balances work with his classes on nights and weekends in the nursing program. He intends to start working in nursing right after graduating. He plans to enroll in an RN to BSN or RN to MSN program to further his education after NCC.

Long plans to pursue a position in an Emergency Department, which she feels will be a great opportunity for her to learn a variety of different skills. Salvadore currently works as a medical assistant at Lehigh Valley Health Network while she’s attending NCC. She was motivated to become a nurse when she witnessed a patient go into cardiac arrest and saw nurses skillfully save the patient.

Mary Jean Osborne, director of the nursing program at NCC, stated, “At this critical time in healthcare as our profession navigates a nationwide nursing shortage, associate degree graduates are critical to the pipeline of front-line providers. We are most grateful to Highmark Blue Shield for recognizing the value of our graduates and supporting them on their pathway to the profession.”