Butler County Community College Students Joy Dillon (left) and April Beaman (right) stand with President Nicholas Neupauer at the 2012 All-Pennsylvania Academic Team Awards & Recognition Dinner on Monday, April 2 in Hershey. (submitted)
by Jonathan Weaver
A Worthington college student was recently recognized statewide for her academic achievements.
April Beaman, a student at Butler County Community College, was named to the 2012 All-Pennsylvania Academic Team earlier this month in Hershey by the Pennsylvania Commission for Community Colleges and Phi Theta Kappa, the national two-year college honor society.
The secretary of the college’s Phi Theta Kappa chapter, Beaman was one of ten recipients with a 4.0 Grade Point Average. She will graduate with an associate degree in Medical Office Administration.
“This is a very nice honor,” Beaman said.
Each award recipient was given a two year scholarship to any of the 14 Pennsylvania state schools. Beaman is currently undecided where she will attend, but she hopes to pursue a Bachelor’s Degree in Health Information Management. Her two top school choices are Indiana University of Pennsylvania or Slippery Rock University.
Beaman volunteers at the Butler Veteran’s Affairs and is a mother to three boys: one 10 years old and twins 6 years old. She is Auxiliary President of Worthington Little League, where her sons compete.
Only four students from the college applied for the award. Beaman was nominated along with fellow student Joy Dillon, who achieved a 3.78 Grade Point Average.
Vice-President of the honor society, Dillon, of Butler, was told about the award while having lunch with her sisters in Meadville.
“I was very, very excited,” Dillon said.
On-track to graduate with an associate’s degree in social work, Dillon hopes to attend Slippery Rock University with her scholarship for a bachelor’s degree in psychology.
Her career shift came after working for the Allegheny Valley School.
“I found my niche when I started working with those individuals,” Dillon said. “I really love the work. Originally, I was going for social work and as I started taking more and more psychology classes, I absolutely decided that’s the field I wanted to go into. I’m fascinated by those classes.”
She hopes to one day work as a Social Services Coordinator for the mentally challenged.
Dillon is the third in her family to be named to the team. Her sister, Jenette Armentrout of Mercer and mother-in-law Leigh Dillaman were also award recipients in the past
Beaman and Dillon were two of 47 community college students from across the Commonwealth to be named to the 2012 All-Pennsylvania Academic Team.
Students are nominated by their attending college and must maintain a 3.5 GPA or higher.
While at Butler County Community, both were named to the President’s List and recognized as a “Who’s Who among American Community College Students.”
The All-Pennsylvania Academic Team awards program builds from the National All-USA Academic Team for two-year colleges and has recognized an exceptional group of community college students for the past 18 years.
Both women received framed certificates and engraved medallions at the award dinner April 2.