(Brockway, PA) The academic achievements of a 35-year-old single mother pursuing a registered nursing degree at BC3 @ Brockway while raising three daughters have been recognized with a $1,000 scholarship from the Chime Scholars Foundation, San Francisco.
Katie Maines, of Rockton, has received a Chime Workforce Scholarship that recognizes high-achieving college students who are pursuing career and technical educational opportunities.
The financial award is intended to defray educational expenses while students are enrolled in a certificate or associate degree workforce development program at a two-year college, according to the foundation.
Students in BC3 @ Brockway’s associate degree career programs in business management, health care science and registered nursing can develop the skills needed to enter the workforce immediately upon graduation.
The Chime Workforce Scholarship is available to members of Phi Theta Kappa, an international academic honor society for two-year colleges and programs. Maines is vice president of BC3’s Rho Phi chapter of Phi Theta Kappa at BC3 @ Brockway. New members of Phi Theta Kappa must have a grade-point average of at least 3.5.
Maines has also received from the BC3 Education Foundation the $420 Jean Speicher Scholarship in 2024-2025 and the $4,545 Ronald J. and Paula S. Dorsch Scholarship in 2025-2026. Those scholarships require a minimum grade-point average of 3.0 for consideration.
Younger brother was NICU patient
Maines was inspired to pursue a career in nursing as a 16-year-old observing the care her brother David Price received in a neonatal intensive care unit when born six weeks prematurely.
“I watched them feeding him and educating our family and I thought, ‘I want to be a nurse,’” Maines said. “It stuck with me, and as my children grew up, I finally had time to go back to school.”
The 2010 graduate of Clearfield Area High School enrolled initially in BC3 @ Brockway’s health care science program in January 2023 after serving as a stay-at-home mother then working in restaurants.
“I’m really hard on myself,” Maines said. “I was worried about whether I would be able to learn new things. I think I am doing fairly well.”
Maines was named last fall to BC3’s president’s list, a recognition for students who achieved a grade-point average of at least 3.75 after completing at least 12 semester hours.
Katie Maines, 35, of Rockton, a registered nursing student at BC3 @ Brockway, has been selected to receive a $1,000 scholarship from the Chime Scholars Foundation, San Francisco, through her membership in BC3’s chapter of Phi Theta Kappa, an international academic honor society. The single mother of daughters ages 18, 15 and 11, expects to graduate debt-free from BC3 @ Brockway in May. She is shown Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024, at BC3 @ Brockway.
“Excited about having no debt after school”
The registered nursing program was launched at BC3 @ Brockway in 2018 to address a high-priority occupation in the North Central Workforce Development Area.
Maines, the mother of daughters ages 18, 15 and 11, intends to be among what could be a record 32 students to graduate from the program in May. She also expects to graduate debt-free, as did 93 percent of BC3’s Class of 2025.
“I am pretty excited about having no debt after school,” Maines said. “I won’t have to worry about paying back loans and I can concentrate on supporting my family.”
BC3 @ Brockway also offers associate degree transfer programs in business administration, early childhood education (Pre K-4), general studies and psychology.
Her brother David, 18, lives in Kylertown.