For Immediate Release
Mercy Awards Scholarships to Oklahoma Students
Oklahoma City—Thanks to the Sisters of Mercy,
three Oklahoma high school students were recently each awarded $1,000
scholarships for higher education.
Cristina Gonzalez, a senior at Edmond Memorial High
School, Steven Nguyen and Celina Pang, both seniors at Mount St. Mary
Catholic High School, were all awarded 2009 Charles E. Thoele
Scholarships, sponsored by the Sisters of Mercy Health System.
Some 200 high school seniors applied for the
scholarship and a total of 20 were chosen nationwide. The scholarship
program was established by Mercy in 1993 to honor Mr. Thoele, a retired
Mercy executive and board member. The monies go toward educational
expenses at undergraduate and vocational-technical schools.
Recipients are selected based on academic
achievement and personal character, as demonstrated by participating in
school and community activities, work experience, leadership qualities,
awards and honors, goal setting, and personal and school references. To
be eligible, applicants must be dependent children (up to age 23) of
active, full-time and regular part-time Mercy co-workers.
Gonzalez plans to major in pre-pharmacy at the
University of Oklahoma; Nguyen will study medicine at the University of
Oklahoma; and Pang will focus on pre-med at Oklahoma City Community
College.
“This is a generous gift from the Sisters of Mercy
that serves our children,” said Di Smalley, president and chief
executive officer of Mercy Health System of Oklahoma. “We have a
200-year heritage of caring for women, children and the sick that goes
back to Dublin, Ireland. The Sisters made a long trek in a covered wagon
into Indian Territory to organize schools and care for children and
women wherever there was need.”
Press release dated: June 3, 2009
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