Do you have the financial means to pursue the career of your choice? Maybe you want to switch professional careers but can’t afford to do so. Perhaps you are out of work and would like to pursue a new career. Or, maybe, additional training would help you earn that promotion you've been working toward at your current job. The William N. Pennington CTE Scholarship allows students to elevate their careers through relevant education and training.
Because of the generosity of the William N. Pennington Foundation, Western Nevada College is able to offer scholarship funding to students pursuing meaningful careers in fields like computer information technology/cybersecurity, welding, automotive, machine tool technology, manufacturing, construction, truck driving, phlebotomy, nursing assistant or emergency medical services careers.
Last academic year, Western Nevada College Foundation awarded 120 students a total of $200,000 through the scholarship. Scholarship recipients have gone on to work for Click Bond, Bently Nevada, Carson Medical Group, Carson Tahoe Hospital, Banner Churchill Community Hospital, SMC Construction, Nevada Copper, Black Eagle Consulting Inc., Carson City Fire Department, U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, Tri-State Fire, REMSA, Fallon Physical Therapy, First Service Residential, Central Lyon County Fire Protection District, Nevada State Parks, and more.
Many students applied for scholarships to study Emergency Medical Services and Paramedicine. WNC recently broadened its EMS class offerings of Emergency Medical Technician and Advanced EMT into a Paramedicine Program so students could train to become paramedics.
Students made the most of the scholarship as 11 graduated in the first Paramedicine commencement ceremony on Feb. 20 in Carson Nugget Hall. In order to graduate, they completed nearly 600 hours of didactic and lab coursework, more than 20 hours of hospital clinic time and nearly 500 hours of field internship.
Relieving the financial burden from students’ lives helps them make a personalized career choice that might not have been possible otherwise and provides better opportunities to find a place in Nevada’s workforce. "This award helps lift the financial burden I am faced with while juggling full-time enrollment with full-time work,” said Anthony Pisani, a recent scholarship recipient. “I am eager to see what my future holds and have aspirations of opening my own machine shop one day.
“With dedication, hard work and the financial resources, the William N.
Pennington Foundation has generously provided, many employment options with local employers are now available to these individuals,” said WNC Foundation Director Niki Gladys. “Pennington’s support has made a tremendous impact on the students, their
families and our community.”
To apply for the scholarship, go to wnc.edu/scholarship. The timing to apply for scholarship funding is ideal since WNC’s fall semester begins on Aug. 30. Apply today!
Learn more about what WNC offers academically at wnc.edu or arrange a time to speak with a counselor at 775-445-3267.
WNC Serves as Headquarters for Tahoe Rim Trail Endurance Runs
The 20th annual Tahoe Rim Trail Endurance Runs found a new heart for its annual event on July 16-18: Western Nevada College.
WNC served as the starting, finishing, meeting, refueling, recovery and celebration location for the 101.5-mile, 50-mile and 50-kilometer ultra runs into the Sierra.
With the rear of the Carson City campus providing easy access to many biking and running trails into the wilderness, TRTER’s new hub served many of its needs. The headquarters for the endurance runs were set up in the parking lot behind the Cedar Building.
Nearly 400 runners competed and many of them completed their endurance runs. But the new courses challenged them like never before. From WNC, participants took Ash Canyon Road and embarked on an arduous 4,200-foot climb up Snow Valley Peak. The 101.5-mile course sent runners as far south as Spooner Lake, as far north on the Tahoe Rim Trail to Diamond Peak Ski Resort and a “crazy” climb up Crystal Ridge ski run before returning to the TRT and descending into Carson City for the finish line behind WNC.
“Moving the start and finish to Carson City took the race course to another level,” TRT Endurance Runs Race Director George Ruiz said. “TRTER has always been considered a hard course.”
Grant Hotaling of Healdsburg, Calif., won the 100-mile race in 20 hours, 51 minutes and 20 seconds; 20:51:50. Jenelle Potvin of Truckee claimed the women's title in 26:34:09. In all, 98 runners completed the 101.5-mile race, 125 finished the 50-mile race and 109 crossed the finish line in the 55K race. Ben Tedore of Reno won the 50-mile race in 8:18:28; and Charles MacNulty of Grass Valley took the 55K title in 5:28:57. Nancy Davison of Carson City was 26th in the 55K.
Ruiz said that logistics challenges prompted moving the event from Spooner Lake State Park to WNC.
“While it is a beautiful place for a start/finish for a race, space is a precious commodity,” Ruiz said. “Previously, we had to hire six 55-passenger motor coaches to bus participants from Carson City to Spooner State Park. Because parking is very limited within the state park, we had to rent seven mini vans to shuttle runners from the NDOT boat inspection area at Highways 50 and 28 into the state park. Family and crew members of the runners struggled to park to see their runners.”
Because of these challenges, Ruiz had long been considering a start-finish in Carson City.
“With the race having to cancel last year like every other event because of the COVID-19 pandemic, I know we needed to change things up and make the move to Carson City,” Ruiz said. “I am so grateful that WNC was receptive to allowing us to host an event of this size on the campus property.
“WNC checked all the boxes of what we needed: a big parking lot, access to trails right behind the campus and a great spot right behind the Cedar Building right next to the trail system, hidden from the houses close by so we could operate for 40 hours straight and not bother the residents.”
Ruiz said the relocation of his races was possible because of the efforts of several WNC Facilities personnel.
“I have to profusely thank Director of Facilities Craig Robinson and Facilities Supervisor Robert Conerby for being so accessible and accommodating to make setting up possible,” Ruiz said. “It was a brand-new venue and a lot of logistics unknowns. I had a vision of how I wanted to set it up, and I have to say it came out great. Our footprint behind the Cedar Building was bigger than what we had to work with at Spooner State Park so we were able to set with our finish line, ‘Ultra Lounge,’ packet pickup, our merchandise area and Nevada Nosh food truck all in one location with plenty of room for all areas to stretch out.”
Plans are for WNC to continue serving as headquarters for the race into the future.
“The location at WNC is perfect. The runners loved the new venue, not having to bus in as before. I sincerely hope that it will be our long-term home venue. Good for Tahoe Rim Trail Endurance Runs, Western Nevada College and most of all, good for Carson City,” Ruiz said.
Students Can Order Textbooks for Fall Semester Online
With the start of fall semester less than a month away, students who have arranged a schedule of classes can now order their textbooks online. WNC no longer has a bookstore on its campuses.
WNCbookstore.com, which is operated by Textbook Brokers, started taking textbook orders on Aug. 1. Ordering kiosks have been set up on WNC’s Carson City and Fallon campuses, or students can order on their smartphones or laptop computers. The Carson City kiosk is located is in Student Services, while students in Fallon can access the kiosk in Getto Hall. Students will be able to pick up their online orders on campus during the first week of school at Textbook Brokers popup stores or they can have their books delivered to their home address. There also will book return boxes at both of these locations, as well as in the Student Center on the Carson City campus.
Students can order eBooks, digitally delivered coursework and WNC merchandise online as well.
3-Week Accelerated Classes Start on Monday
Students can get a jump on fall semester by taking a 3-week accelerated class that starts on Monday, Aug. 9.
The online classes being offered are Introduction to Ethics (
PHIL 135), History of the American Musical Theater (
MUS 124), Art Appreciation (
ART 160), History of Witchcraft (
HIST 285) and Introduction to Information Systems (IS 101).
Students can register for these classes through their myWNC accounts.
To learn more about these classes, go to
wnc.edu/class-schedule/.
Thomas to Give Talks on UFO Incident, Nevada War
Spend Friday and Saturday, Aug. 20 and 21, with Mike Thomas as he provides a good UFO story and history lesson in a war that took place in Nevada in 1860.
The free talks begin at 7:30 p.m. and take place at Jack C. Davis Observatory on the Western Nevada College Carson City campus.
Thomas will talk about the “Pyramid Lake War” on Friday, Aug. 20 and the “The Roswell UFO Incident” on Saturday, Aug. 21.
The observatory is open to the public from sundown to 11 p.m. on Saturday nights for Star Parties. The Western Nevada Astronomical Society hosts these parties, bringing together people with an interest in astronomy. Newcomers are welcome.
The observatory is located at 2699 Vanpatten Drive in Carson City.
