UKIAH — Albert Beltrami of Ukiah has given checks in the amount of $400 to each of 19 graduates of the Mendocino College Nursing Program. The purpose of the checks is to fund each nurse”s state board examination fees.
According to Barbara French, director of nursing at Mendocino College, “For every month a nursing candidate waits to take their state board examination, their ability to pass goes down 24 percent. It is absolutely critical that our graduates take the examination immediately following graduation and this gift from Mr. Beltrami guarantees that they will.”
According to French, on average, once students begin the nursing program their annual income drops by more than 43 percent due to the intensity of the program. “Several students approached me prior to graduation expressing their concerns about paying for their state boards. It was hard to keep the secret but well worth it when I saw their faces as the announcement was made,” French said.
Beltrami said he believes in supporting his community and has done so by creating the Albert and Patricia Beltrami Scholarship Internship for those interested in pursuing a career in local government and more recently by providing the nursing graduates with the funding to take their state exams.
“Al knows that a strong and vibrant community is built around having an educated and well trained workforce,” Katie Fairbairn, executive director of the Mendocino College Foundation, said.
According to Fairbairn, this gift represents a guarantee that these 19 nursing candidates have the ability to immediately sign up for their exams and, once they have passed, to begin working in the community.
“The Foundation is extremely grateful to Mr. Beltrami for his generosity and vision to create a stronger community by supporting these graduates,” Gary Smith, Foundation president, said.
According to French, the Mendocino College Nursing program”s current pass rate of 96.4 percent is one of the highest in California for a community college nursing program. According to French, the statewide average is 85 percent.
Student speaker Alison Bowen told the audience in attendance that the last two years in the nursing program were both the hardest of her life and the most rewarding. Now the real work begins, Bowen added, and she and her classmates can”t wait.
For more information about the Mendocino College Foundation, call 467-1018 or visit http://foundation.mendocino.edu/site/.
