MHCC Foundation Establishes Scholarship to Honor College Supporters
The Mt. Hood Community College Foundation Finance Committee recently established a new annual scholarship that will honor a local community member or an MHCC employee or board member who has shown exemplary service to the college.
Foundation Finance Committee Chair Stan Hymel presents
the Hero for Education Scholarship plaque to Nancy Jaksich. The Finance Committee developed the Hero for Education Scholarship to provide financial support to a worthy student and to celebrate MHCC’s most-valued difference makers. Each year, the committee will select a Hero who will be recognized through the naming of the scholarship. The scholarship will fund one year of tuition and fees at MHCC, or approximately $3,933.
This year, the Foundation chose to honor Nancy Jaksich, owner of the Suburban Auto Group in Sandy and a Foundation board member. Jaksich has served on the Foundation board for over 10 years. In May, she was named the 2017 MHCC Patron Saint for her service to the college.
“The Hero for Education Scholarship allows us to show our gratitude to our college supporters while helping our students achieve their academic goals,” said Al Sigala, Executive Director of Development and District Communications at MHCC. “And we’re honored to have Nancy Jaksich, a Foundation board member and MHCC Patron Saint, to serve as our first Hero for Education. I can think of no better example.”
The first Heroes for Education scholarship was awarded to MHCC student Sandra “Meg” Nau. Nau said it’s been a lifelong dream of hers to earn a degree. She’s spent more than three decades working in the medical field. But after going through three layoffs in five years and struggling to find work that provided a living wage for her and her family, she decided it was time to earn a degree.
Meg Nau In June, Nau graduated with honors and an Associate of Arts Oregon Transfer degree from MHCC. She plans to pursue a bachelor’s degree in teaching through an MHCC-Portland State University co-admissions program before earning a graduate degree in postsecondary adult and continuing education from PSU. Her two sons also attend MHCC.
“Earning a degree will help my family escape the vicious cycle of living on the edge of homelessness,” said Nau. “This scholarship has rekindled my hope to make a positive difference in the lives of others. I intend to become a teacher in math, music and philosophy, and I’m excited to see my dream manifest into reality.”
Nau, who performed in MHCC’s production of “Man of La Mancha” last winter, said she loves the creative and analytical elements that music and math bridge.
“I love music, and to me math and music go very much hand in hand,” she added.
The 2017-18 scholarship application season at MHCC begins in February. For more information on scholarships available from MHCC, visit mhcc.edu/Scholarships/