Southwestern Michigan College Vice President of Instruction Dr. David Fleming grew up in a nursing family.

“My twin sisters both went to nursing school three years ahead of me” studying English, he told the 20 men and women who earned their associate degree in nursing (ADN) pins Dec. 18 in the theatre of the Dale A. Lyons Building on the Dowagiac campus.

“I got to live this kind of experience these young ladies and gentlemen have had — the love, the frustration, the exhaustion, the commitment that they’ve made. It’s something I’ve always envied. This pinning ceremony is incredibly unique, that they get that chance to be seen and be heard and to shake the hand of or hug their favorite professor, family member or friend who encouraged them to go into nursing.

“Thirty-five years from now you’ll be like my sisters, who at Thanksgiving still go on passionately about their experience. They still talk lovingly about their faculty members and remember them by name,” Fleming said.

ADN graduates paused to remember the name of Kyle Shinske, 27, of South Haven, an SMC nursing student who apparently drowned Nov. 29, 2014, while kayaking in Allegan County.

ADN graduates include Heather Alexander of Niles, Mirella Avila of Niles, Matthew Beaver of Niles, Jessica Boer of Paw Paw, Paige Breden of Cassopolis, Erica Campbell of Union, Hannah Chlebek of South Bend, Jessica Doty of Owosso, Keara Fitzgerald of Dowagiac, Mercy Henderson of Lawton, Kelsey Hovey of Kalamazoo, Nathan Kahne of St. Joseph, Michael Marhanka of Decatur, Alyssa Muller of Edwardsburg, Gina Nurenburg of Niles, Mary Spaulding of Coloma, Cecilia Sweet of Benton Harbor, Morgan Tanzillo of Dowagiac, Holly Tobolski of Mishawaka and Katie Willis of Three Oaks.

Rebecca Jellison, dean of the School of Nursing and Health Services, announced Spaulding received the Florence Nightingale Award as determined by her fellow students.

Spaulding is known as compassionate, thoughtful, dependable, a team player, generous, humble and a constant encourager to her classmates.

“She has a huge heart and is always there to offer a hand to anyone at any time with anything,” Jellison said.

Jellison introduced faculty members Debbie Green, RN, MSN, Chair; Jodi Tidey, RN, MSN; Jeanie Mitchel, RN, MSN, MA; Patti Tibble, DNP, RN, CNE; Patti Frontczak, RN, MSN; Yolanda Roche, RN, MSN; Tammy Jerz, RN, MSN; and Melissa Kennedy, RN, BSN.

 

About Southwestern Michigan College

Southwestern Michigan College is a public, residential and commuter, community college, founded in 1964. The college averages in the top 10 percent nationally for student academic success based upon the National Community College Benchmark Project. Southwestern Michigan College strives to be the college of first choice, to provide the programs and services to meet the needs of students, and to serve our community. 

The college is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools and is a member of the American Association of Community Colleges.