Tyler Junior College has announced its May 2021 graduates from the TJC Associate Degree Nursing program.
Among the graduates are four students who also received their Bachelor of Science Nursing from the University of Texas at Tyler in the inaugural class of the concurrent enrollment program.
TJC and UT Tyler nursing programs formed a partnership in Spring 2019 that allows students to earn an Associate of Applied Science in Nursing from TJC and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from UT Tyler at the same time.
The ADN/BSN concurrent enrollment option is for students who are motivated to complete 30 hours of BSN level coursework while simultaneously completing the TJC Traditional RN curriculum.
The inaugural graduating ADN-BSN cohort members are Jovany Sanchez of Ben Wheeler; and Coti Stroud, Susan Whitehurst, and Jaela Wideman, all of Tyler.
“In the best of times, nursing school is tough,” said Elizabeth Olivier, TJC dean of the School of Nursing and Health Sciences. “Getting through it with the restrictions and challenges brought on by a global pandemic increased the difficulty exponentially, but these students not only rose to the challenge but accepted the greater challenge of enrolling concurrently in the TJC ADN program and the UT Tyler BSN program. We are incredibly proud of their hard work and accomplishments.”
TJC has been training area nurses since 1951, when it opened the Texas Eastern School of Nursing, in cooperation with Mother Frances (now CHRISTUS Trinity Mother Frances) and Medical Center (now UT Health East Texas) hospitals. For almost 70 years, thousands of area nurses have received their start at TJC.
The TJC Associate Degree Nursing program is a 60-credit-hour curriculum that leads to an Associate of Applied Science degree. Graduates typically take the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN) within four to six weeks of graduation. TJC’s 2020 ADN graduates had an impressive 96 percent passing rate.
Pinning ceremonies were held Thursday, May 6, in the Rogers Palmer Performing Arts Center.
Graduates of the traditional RN program and their hometowns include:
Chelsea Anderson, Longview; Angela Brockway, Chandler; Carrissa Lynn Butterfield, Tyler; Sarah Campos, Tyler; Amanda Clark, Tyler; Morgan Lynn Coats, Whitehouse; Madai Cornelio, Tyler; Kylee Shaye Cross, Martins Mill; Hayley Davis, Fort Worth; Lisa Marie Drennan, Big Sandy; Leslie Flores-Charles, Lindale; Caitlyn Christine Franks, Lindale; Candace Marie Freson, Longview; Tammy Giglio, Bullard; Clara Gilliam, Alba; Akwa Gloria, Douala, Cameroon; Madelyn K. Hardin, Glendale, Arizona; Raegan Marie Hope, Mineola; Shelley Marie Hurlburt, Creswell, Oregon; Mark Jenkins, Tyler; Natika LaShea Johnson, Tyler; Ruth Landry, Tyler; Allison Lane, Tyler; Cheryl Letsch, Van; Chelsea Marie Lutton, Winona; Benjamin McAdams, Bullard; Shayna Leigh McCoy, Elkhart; Rachael Morgan, Dallas; Claudette Niyomufasha, Tyler; Ujali Patel, Seadrift; Matthew C. Perry, Winona; Noriko Jewel Pettigrew, Tyler; Andrea E. Prosise, Rusk; Jovany Sanchez, Ben Wheeler; Billy Stewart Jr., Rusk; Destiny Renalde Stinson, Flint; Chelsea (Coti) Stroud, Tyler; Kerry Tibbs, Grand Saline; Carolynn Turner, Tyler; Lourdes Vergara, Chandler; Heather Walker, Tyler; Susan Whitehurst, Tyler; Jaela Wideman, Tyler; Cinnamon Wilkins, Dallas; Shelley Wilson, Tyler.
Graduates of the LVN-RN Transition program and their hometowns include:
Adebola A. Alli, Forney; Abigail Arreola, Tyler; Luisa Sanchez Brown, Tyler; Jeremy Brummett, Rusk; Ashley Calvillo, Tyler; Cassie Chaffin, Mineola; Valerie Jeanine Cheshire, Timpson; Sarah Clark, Rusk; KiJana BriAnn Criswell, Lufkin; Edward Davies, Flint; Carmen Dominguez, Nacogdoches; Kaylee Eastwood, Winnsboro; Jaylin Gibson, Natchez, Mississippi; Natasha N. Green, Tyler; LaToya Hanson, Tyler; Junelle G. Heldenbrand, Nacogdoches; Jenny Holland, Point; Skylynn Housh, Chandler; Leslye Y. Izaguirre, Lufkin; Schuyler Kubiak, Whitehouse; Alanna Lewis, Flint; Laura Mayo, Tyler; Leigh Ann Meza, Jacksonville; Kenya Nix, Gilmer; Misty Pritchard, Quitman; Ada Janie Rios, Tyler; Heather Nichole Scherry, Flint; Tiffany Leigh Sparks, Whitehouse; Lacey Standley, Tyler; Taylor Stewart, Van; Sarah Van Slyke, Paris; Hayleanne Walker, Van; Shenika Walton, Lindale; Alisha Morgan Wilkerson, Van; Nicole Wilkerson, Tyler; Ashley Williams-Gibson, Alto.
TJC will offer online nursing information sessions on June 1 and 28 for those interested in the program. To sign up, or to learn more about TJC nursing, go to TJC.edu/nursing.