New BCCC associate degree nursing graduates pinned in ceremony on May 16 | Eastern North Carolina Now

Press Release:

    Thirty-nine graduates of Beaufort County Community College's Associate Degree Nursing program received their nursing school pins Thursday, May 16 in a ceremony, which is a traditional rite of passage for nursing school graduates across the country.

    The ceremony was held at the First United Methodist Church in Washington before an audience of about 200 BCCC administrators, faculty and staff as well as family and friends of the graduates.

    Four students received awards honoring their academic and nursing success. The Leadership Award was presented to Jacquelin Parker, Associate Degree Nursing Senior Class President. The Outstanding Senior Student Award was presented to Kathleen S. Warren. The Katie Paul Award for Clinical Excellence was presented to Blake Compliment. With a 3.77 grade point average, Leanne Burbage Godley received the Academic Excellence Award.

    In his faculty address, Kent Dickerson, director of nursing at BCCC, told the graduates that they had changed from their first day of orientation when they displayed "in some cases pure terror" at the road ahead to confident nurse graduates.

    "Over the course of this last semester, I saw that change your faculty was hoping for," he said.

    In student comments, Rachael Miller thanked the nursing faculty and her fellow nursing students for their support.

    "We had the privilege to learn from the best. The best of the best in my opinion," she said in comments directed to the nursing faculty. "You pushed us because you saw the potential within us to not just be nurses but great nurses."

    Pinning ceremonies in their currently recognizable form began in 1893. The pin is awarded to the nurse to recognize the achievement of entering the profession and to signify a nursing school graduate's affiliation with a specific nursing school.

    The graduates are now qualified to take the state licensure examination.
The 2013 Associate Degree Nursing graduates, carrying lamps in honor of Florence Nightingale, recite the Nursing Pledge at the end of the ADN Pinning Ceremony May 16.
    The graduates are Jessica Tigchelear Andrews, Betty Jo Ayers, Kristi Barber, Wanda Beaver, Emily Belcher, Amy Greene Blake, Sherry Denise Bowers, Leah Bunch, Victoria Jefferson Carrow, Misty Nifong Clark, Blake Compliment, Lauren Cooper, Sara Peele Davenport, Leanne Burbage Godley, Tommy Hardison, Brian Hendrickson, Heather F. Jennings, Kenyetta Lynch, Carla Foster-McArthur, Stephanie Marie McCracken, Tamula S. Midgette, Rachael Hollier Miller, Mike Moore, Lindsay K. Noles, Kaleigh M. Nunley, Jacquelin Michelle Parker, Kelly C. Peel, Amy C. Perry, Kara R. Pugh, Rachel Raiford, Rhonda M. Rodriquez, Chayne Sawyer, Jennifer P. Smith, Lindsey Smith, Bridgette Koonce Story, Stephonie N. Utley, Christin Tew, Kathleen S. Warren, Brandy Carter Woolard, Brooke Woolard and Leah Yates.

    For more information about the Associate Degree Nursing program at BCCC, contact Kent Dickerson, director of nursing, at (252) 940-6205 or visit the BCCC website at www.beaufortccc.edu.


    Beaufort County Community College is a public comprehensive community college committed to accessible and affordable quality education, effective teaching, relevant training, and lifelong learning opportunities for the people served by the College.