UMFK honors
68 nursing students at pinning ceremony
FORT KENT — Sixty-eight University of Maine at Fort Kent nursing students graduated from the program, with 33 of them attending the 2012 Pinning Ceremony on Friday, May 11, at the Fox Auditorium on the UMFK campus.
UMFK NURSING STUDENTS were recently honored during a pinning ceremony. Pictured in front, from left, seated: Chelsea Violette, Callie Rigsby, Bernadeta Urban, Carla Keene, Julie Albert and Julie Seehagen. 
Row two: Rebecca Stokdijk, Allison Charette, Ashley Law, Kelsey King, Janet Paradis, Terry Caron, Donna Jandreau, Barbara Jean Bragdon, Julia Coffin, Kristen Huston, Samantha Weymouth and Nicole Marquis. Row three: Georgiana Schiff, Angela Norsworthy, Anna Newman, Amanda Tracy, Melissa Davis, Margaret Hamilton, Lisa Roop, Thomas Brady, Sarah Johnston, Jennifer Bisson, Alan McManus, Andrea Dufour, Nicole Saucier and Schari Roy.
Area students who received their BSN nursing pins were: Thomas C. Brady, Sherman; Kristen Joy Goupille and Kelsey Elizabeth King, Perham; Margaret Marlette Hamilton, Littleton; Sarah Beasley Johnston, Houlton; Myles Kendall, Westfield; Emily Jean Willcox Lugdon, Eagle Lake; Alan D. McManus and Angela R. Norsworthy, Presque Isle; and Bella E. Michaud, Fort Fairfield.
Local RN to BSN students who received their nursing pins were: Erin Lee Flannery, Houlton; Amy Kendall, Westfield; and Georgina Schiff, Presque Isle.
Faculty, staff and students, along with family members and friends of the graduates, gathered to honor the recipients of the bachelor of science degree in nursing. University President Wilson G. Hess welcomed attendees and extended congratulations to the students.
The address to the senior class was delivered by Kelsey King. The theme for the pinning ceremony was “Advocating, Leading, Caring.”
The Division of Nursing also honors an alumna or alumnus during the pinning ceremony. The Distinguished Nursing Alumni Award is bestowed upon a nursing graduate of the UMFK Bachelor of Science in Nursing program, who displays accomplishment in the nursing profession, as well as a commitment to his/her community through volunteer service and humanitarian efforts. This year, the Nurse Award was presented to UMFK Alumna Lara Boudreau from Connor Township.
Boudreau began her nursing career in 1998 as a licensed practical nurse. She earned an associate’s degree in nursing at NMCC in 2006. While simultaneously working full-time at Cary Medical Center, she also worked on her RN-BSN degree at UMFK. She excelled in the program and graduated in 2008.
As a member of the Cary Medical Center team, she plays a key role in the education and training of her peers by serving as a staff developer and nurse educator.
Boudreau is a clinical adjunct instructor for UMFK, instructing both junior- and senior-level nursing students in a hospital setting. She also has served in a similar capacity at NMCC.
“She has been instrumental in the lives and education of many UMFK nursing students in the last few years, serving as a preceptor, mentor, and role model within the profession. She embodies what it means to serve as an example to others,” noted Dr. Erin Soucy, UMFK nursing division director.
The keynote speaker for the pinning ceremony was Betty Kent-Conant, director of Eastern Maine Home Care.
Additionally, the Division of Nursing recognized a member of the community who has been a staunch supporter of professional nursing, and of BSN education, particularly within the St. John Valley. Kent-Conant was honored with the Community Leader Award.
Kent-Conant worked at Northern Maine Community College (NMCC) for 30 years, where for half of those years, she served as director of the nursing and allied health programs. She helped to establish the first RN-to-BSN articulation agreement with UMFK. This agreement allows graduates from Northern Maine Community College, who graduate with an associate’s degree in nursing, to transfer their earned credits towards completion of a baccalaureate nursing degree.
She distinguished herself as a superb community leader and nurse educator and the faculty and staff at NMCC continue to hold her in high esteem.
Kent-Conant was active on the Maine State Board of Nursing, where she advocated for high-quality nursing education and standards that promoted safe patient care.
During the ceremony, Professor Cheryl Roberts recognized the hospitals that and preceptors who contributed to the education and development of the graduates. Special plaques were given to Cary Medical Center, Northern Maine Medical Center and The Aroostook Medical Center.
Dr. Jenny Radsma, professor of nursing, brought the evening to a close.
The UMFK Nursing Division faculty and staff are Dr. Erin Soucy, Jacqueline Devoe, Diane Griffin, Larry Nadeau, Dr. Jenny Radsma, Cheryl Roberts, Tanya Sleeper, and Diane Gagne.
