SUBMITTED PHOTO Donna Goyer-Franz (third from left) receives a $3,000 Program for Continuing Education Scholarship from the P.E.O. Sisterhood for her education degree at Medicine Hat College.
Also pictured: Jan Dynes, Penny Drysdale and Jean Bernard.
jappel@medicinehatnews.com@MHNJeremyAppel
Two Hatters have received post-secondary scholarships for women who have been out of school for at least two years.
The Program for Continuing Education scholarship is an initiative of the P.E.O. Sisterhood, which is based out of a women’s college in Nevada, Mo., but has a chapter in the Hat.
“I’m really grateful, especially given that it’s designed for women like me, who’ve had to go back to school after being away for a while. It’s really nice to feel that support from the organization,” said Joanne Prest, who graduated from Crescent Heights in 1997 and received a $1,100 PCE scholarship. “It has been a while.”
Upon graduating high school, Prest pursued a bachelor’s degree at the University of British Columbia, after which she worked for a bit before pursuing her master’s at UBC.
She finished her master’s in October 2008, and then took time off to raise her kids, working part-time intermittently.
“Now my children are getting older, so I’m looking at the next phase of my career,” she said. “Going back to school after all that time off is a little scary, but exciting.”
She’s looking to re-certify her credentials in the UBC Infant Development and Supported Child Development diploma program, which will allow her to go back to work full-time.
“The field that I’m studying in now is more focused on helping families, rather than the one-on-one working with children that I was doing before. It’s a little bit more broad. I’m hoping I can help more people,” said Prest.
Donna Goyer-Franz of Irvine received $3,000 from the sisterhood to complete her education studies at Medicine Hat College, from which she graduates at the end of April.
She’s no stranger to MHC, having graduated from the social work program in 2007.
“I really like that it’s such a small campus. It’s very focused and you get to know your profs and cohort,” said Goyer-Franz.
She worked as an educational assistant with her social work diploma, so it wasn’t a huge jump to go into education, she said.
“You’re helping people. It’s just a different capacity. They’re both about building relationships and being of service to people,” Goyer-Franz said.
The job security afforded by becoming a teacher also appealed to her.
Goyer-Franz had a child in 2009, which put the brakes on her ambitions.
She calls the opportunity provided by the scholarship a “godsend.”
“The fact that it’s women supporting other women made it even more beautiful,” said Goyer-Franz. “Women have so much on their plate as it is, with most of the parenting duties in a lot of cases and most of the household duties. To be able to go back to school and maybe do something more than what they’re doing at home, and to have the support of other women while you’re doing that, is important.”
