Date: September 9, 1997
Contact: Irene Cromer
703/791-8720
Valerie Frances Walter of Woodbridge and Katherine Elizabeth Watts of Manassas have been awarded $500 scholarships by the Mildred A. Mason Memorial Scholarship Foundation in Hampton, Virginia. Walter and Watts are students at the Prince William County School of Practical Nursing, a Prince William County Public Schools adult education program open to high school seniors and adults. This is the first time in the eleven years of the scholarship program that two recipients are enrolled in the same program.
The practical nursing course is eighteen months in length, with nine months of preclinical instruction and nine months of clinical experience. The preclinical phase is offered at two high schools in Prince William County, Stonewall Jackson in Manassas, and Gar-Field in Woodbridge.
Classes are held for approximately three hours each school day. High school seniors receive three credits toward high school graduation and must take other required academic courses within the high school. Walter enrolled in the program as an adult. Watts is a 1997 graduate of Osbourn Park High School and completed the preclinical phase as a high school senior.
Clinical experience is provided at Prince William Hospital in Manassas, Potomac
Hospital in Woodbridge, and Annaburg Manor in Manassas. This nine months of supervised clinical practice begins in August after successful completion of the preclinical year.
High School seniors are not required to pay tuition for the preclinical year of study; however they are charged for the clinical year. Adult students pay tuition for both years. Tuition is determined each year as part of the school division's budget process.
The Mildred A. Mason Memorial Scholarship is awarded annually in memory of Mason, a pioneer in Virginia health occupations education. The scholarship is awarded to a Virginia health occupations student or educator each year for use in either entry level or advanced education in health occupations.
For more information, contact Bette L. Sneed, R.N., B.S.N., M.S.Ed., director of the School of Practical Nursing.