NMCC student earns workforce scholarship

4 years ago

PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — Justin Barry of Houlton, a student at Northern Maine Community College, has been named a 2020 New Century Workforce Scholar and will receive a $1,250 scholarship.

 This scholarship is the first of its kind to support students at associate degree-granting institutions on a national scale as they plan to enter the workforce upon the completion of a degree or certificate. 

Barry graduated with an associate’s degree in plumbing and heating in 2019, and is currently pursuing an additional degree in electrical construction. The program is sponsored by The Coca-Cola Foundation and the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society.

 New Century Workforce Scholars are selected based on their academic accomplishments, leadership, activities, and how they extend their intellectual talents beyond the classroom. Over 2,200 students were nominated from more than 1,200 college campuses across the country. Only one New Century Workforce Scholar was selected from each state.

“We congratulate Justin Barry for receiving this prestigious scholarship, and we are honored to partner with The Coca-Cola Foundation to recognize his outstanding achievements,” said Phi Theta Kappa’s president and CEO, Dr. Lynn Tincher-Ladner. “Scholarship programs like this are integral for creating opportunities for students to succeed as they prepare to enter the workforce and for putting college completion within reach.”

“We believe education holds an extraordinary promise to change lives,” said Helen Smith Price, president of the Coca-Cola Foundation. “We hope that providing these college scholarships to deserving students will enable them to realize their full and unique potential.”

 The New Century Workforce Scholars will be recognized during the Association of Community College Trustees’ (ACCT) Congress in Chicago in October.

Submitted by the Development and College Relations Office of Northern Maine Community College.