On Oct. 12, the Classified and Administrative Staff Organization (CASO) at Northland Pioneer College (NPC), awarded $500 scholarships to three outstanding NPC students. David Aberle, is a husband, father, Indigenous medicine man, and a full-time student at NPC. He is also a perennial volunteer, working on food distribution events for NPC, participating in fund-raising walk-a-thons, hauling wood for the elders in his community, and assisting with tribal ceremonies. Service to his community is of key importance to him. After being downsized from his job as a conductor for the railroad, Aberle enrolled at NPC’s Painted Desert Campus in Holbrook to pursue an Associate of Science Degree. He plans to transfer to a university to pursue a Bachelor of Science degree in computer science, with an emphasis on cybersecurity. A member of the Phi Theta Kappa honor society, he is on track to graduate from NPC in May 2022. The two other recipients were Tyler Allen of Concho, who is dual-enrolled as a second-year student in NPC’s Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN) program as well as in Arizona State University’s (ASU’s), Bachelor of Science in Nursing program and Amanda Willey is a first-year nursing student who resides in Flagstaff. There were an unprecedented 16 well-qualified applicants for the CASO Student Scholarship for the Fall 2021 semester. A committee of nine volunteers, including NPC staff, faculty and administrators, reviewed and scored each application. CASO had advertised the availability of only two scholarships, but a tie for the second-highest score prompted the group to reach a unanimous decision to create three awards for this semester. To donate to CASO scholarships, please make checks payable to NPC Friends and Family, indicate “CASO Scholarships” on the memo line, and send to 1611 S. Main Street, Snowflake, AZ 85937. You can also donate online at www.npcfriends.family.org.
