Middlesex Community College

This award was established by Judith Tarutz to celebrate her success in reshaping her career path to become a professional software technical writer and editor. The author of an award-winning book on technical editing and former instructor in MCC's Software Technical Writing Program, she serves on the College's Technical Writing Advisory Board. She created this grant to help promising new editors and writers acquire the education and skills to succeed in the field of technical publishing.

The Lowell Spinners Annual Scholarship is part of the Spinners Scholars program, made possible by team owner Dave Heller and the Lowell Spinners baseball club. This annual scholarship was established to benefit students from the Merrimack Valley who exhibit both a high level of integrity and academic excellence, as well as an interest in sports, a demonstrated desire to improve their community (and our region) and a willingness to commit to making one's future in the Merrimack Valley. The recipient will also participate in a paid summer internship with the Spinners organization.

The purpose of the scholarship is to provide a nursing student interested in Mental Health with the financial support for his/her nursing education at MCC. This scholarship honors, retired faculty member, Maria Ryder, who served in the Nursing Department for more than 40 years at Middlesex Community College. Among her accomplishments, Marie has been instrumental in developing the MCC Veterans' Resources Center (VRC) with its goal to help veterans transition from military to civilian life through education. She describes the VRC as a beacon of hope for many of the patients at the VA Hospital, Edith Nourse Rogers Memorial Veterans Hospital, and she has provided a link between the veterans and MCC through the student nurses that she mentored at the VA Hospital.

This award recognizes three students who are majoring in paralegal studies and who demonstrate academic excellence and exceptional promise.

Prudence Drake received care from MCC students while a resident at the Carleton-Willard Village Residential Home in Bedford, MA. Her wish was to establish a fund to support students in the Health Careers fields. Two awards for certificate program students and two awards for degree program students.