LeadingAge Ohio awarded Clark State Community College student Lynn Simonds a scholarship through the LeadingAge Ohio Foundation Wednesday in the Hillman Center at The Ohio Masonic Home. The scholarship assists member employees throughout the state in furthering their careers within a nonprofit senior service organization.
“I want to teach the young kids that it’s never too late to go back to school. I’ll be 60 next month and I’m so excited for this next chapter to begin,” said Simonds. “Clark State is a great school with great professors, so this is a dream come true.”
Simonds was presented with the first scholarship of the year by Tim White, director of communications and public relations at LeadingAge Ohio. She will use the funds to complete the STNA program at Clark State.
“The Foundation Board was very impressed with Lynn's application and her apparent dedication to The Ohio Masonic Home and its residents. No one epitomizes ‘growing our own’ more than Lynn, and her application clearly painted a picture of someone dedicated to improving herself. She is just as dedicated to the patients she serves. We are grateful for the opportunity to help such incredible member employees as Lynn,” stated White.
LeadingAge Ohio advocates nonprofit services for older Ohioans and serves approximately 400 organizations located in more than 150 Ohio towns and cities. Additionally, they provide ancillary health care and housing services. Member organizations serve more than 50,000 elderly Ohioans daily and employ more than 20,000 persons statewide.
At 55, Simonds completed her GED at Clark State’s Brinkman Education Center and started working at the hospital shortly after. She has been recognized as an outstanding employee and was nominated for the Hospital’s Star Program where she was encouraged by staff to apply for the scholarship.
“I would like to thank everyone here at The Ohio Masonic Home that helped me apply, mainly Kathy Puckett and Lori Beasley in HR. I also want to thank LeadingAge Ohio’s Foundation Board and Tim White for picking me along with Angie Reese, the program coordinator at Clark State. If it wasn’t for Angie I would have given up,” says Simonds.
Simonds currently works as a housekeeper for Pathways, a division of The Ohio Masonic Home specializing in Alzheimer’s disease and dementia and enjoys relating to patients most. She will continue to work while completing her Clark State certificate.
To learn more about LeadingAge Ohio visit www.leadingageohio.org.