MATC STUDENTS RECEIVE COCA-COLA SCHOLARSHIPS
Penny Bykowski and Billy Jack Houston, students at Madison Area Technical
College, each have received a $1,000 scholarship from the Coca-Cola Two-Year
Colleges Scholarship Program. The national program awards scholarships
to students based on their academic achievements and record of community
service.
“The Coca-Cola Two-Year Colleges Program gives support
and encouragement to an underserved population of college students,” says
J. Mark Davis, president of the Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation. “This
program is an extension of our long-standing commitment to college education
throughout the United States. These fine students, who often juggle school,
work and family, continue to give back to their communities through volunteer
service.”
“Receiving this scholarship has been the determining
factor allowing me to shorten the time I will need to earn my degree
and rejoin the workforce,” says Bykowski, a resident of Baraboo.
She has been attending classes while she worked full-time, but the scholarship,
she says, will help her to work less and concentrate on completing her
degree.
Bykowski is pursing a degree in the Paralegal Program at MATC
and works part-time at a law firm. She also works as a student employee
to coordinate marketing activities in the MATC Student Life Office, is
a past Alternative Breaks coordinator and has been active in a variety
of community support activities including United Cerebral Palsy fundraisers,
the Iron Man competition, local animal shelters and other events in the
Sauk County area. She is an AmeriCorps member and a member of Phi Theta
Kappa, a national honor society for two-year college students.
A graduate
of Wautoma High School, Billy Jack Houston will graduate with an associate
degree in arts from MATC this year and plans to study special education
at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He is a group leader for
Madison School and Community Recreation (MSCR) and volunteers as a tutor
at Glendale Elementary. He is president of MATC’s Native American
Student Association and is an AmeriCorps member. His college activities
also include Alternative Spring Break volunteer efforts in New Orleans
and at the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota.
Says Houston, “I
currently work part-time and rely on financial aid to help with tuition,
books and other college expenses. I am very grateful to have been selected
for the scholarship.”
Through the Coca-Cola Two-Year Colleges Scholarship
Program, the Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation awards 400 scholarships annually
to students attending higher-education institutions granting two-year
degrees. The Foundation was created in 1986 to commemorate the 100th
anniversary of Coca-Cola and “to establish a legacy for education
for tomorrow’s leaders.”
MATC is one of the largest of Wisconsin
Technical College System’s 16 colleges. It provides “real
world smart” education through a comprehensive curriculum of technical,
liberal arts and science, adult basic education and life enrichment studies
and activities, as well as customized employee training. MATC offers
associate degrees, vocational diplomas and certificates, and non-degree
courses in more than 140 programs of study. The college serves parts
of 12 counties located in southcentral Wisconsin and offers instruction
through five campuses and numerous community locations throughout the
district.
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Last
Modified:
October 13, 2006
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