Taylor Johnson graduated Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) training at the CNA Academy in Madison, AL. She is now working full-time as a CNA at Merrill Gardens in Madison. Congratulations Taylor!
Michael Williams graduated from Mechatronics, Robotics, Soldering, and Solid Edge training in May 2021 at KTECH in Madison, AL. Michael starts a full-time job at the Mazda Toyota automobile manufacturing plant in June 2021. Congratulations Michael!
Reginald Roberts was awarded a scholarship for pipe welding training at Global Tech Institute LLc with funds raised from our 2019 golf fundraiser. Reginald completed his training at Global Tech and is now working in Huntsville for BASF. Congratulations Reginald!!
Venita graduated the Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) training program at Calhoun Community College and passed her state certification tests in January 2020. She is making a career change from sales. She has been a caregiver to her brother as well as her mother and father which inspired her career change. Her family has a strong career tradition in the nursing profession and Venita will be joining them. Venita's next steps are to find a job at a nursing home or hospital while also enrolling in Calhoun for more nursing education to become a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN). God is good.
Congratulations to Shandora Moore, one of our June 2019 Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) graduates. Shandora graduated from the 80-hour (10 weeks on Saturdays) course conducted by the CNA Academy in Madison, AL. Her scholarship was funded by our 2019 Scramble for Scholarships fundraiser. Thank you to our donors, sponsors, and volunteers! Hill Technology Solutions Inc (HTSI) and Torch Technologies were scholarship level sponsors. Shandora was a scholarship awardee in 2018 but due to issues with last year’s training provider, we retrained her at the CNA Academy Shandora was a scholarship awardee in 2018 but due to issues with last year’s training provider, we retrained her at the CNA Academy. Shandora is now working as a CNA and plans to become an Operating Room Technician.
Congratulations to Porsha Smiley, one of our June 2019 Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) graduates. Porsha graduated from the 80-hour (10 weeks on Saturdays) course conducted by the CNA Academy in Madison, AL. Her scholarship was funded by our 2019 Scramble for Scholarships fundraiser. Thank you to our donors, sponsors, and volunteers! Hill Technology Solutions Inc (HTSI) and Torch Technologies were scholarship level sponsors. Porsha was a scholarship awardee in 2018 but due to issues with last year’s training provider, we retrained her at the CNA Academy Porsha was a scholarship awardee in 2018 but due to issues with last year’s training provider, we retrained her at the CNA Academy. Porsha is now working as a CNA and plans to start the Radiology tech program at Wallace State.
Congratulations to Latrice Houston, one of our June 2019 Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) graduates. Latrice graduated from the 80-hour (10 weeks on Saturdays) course conducted by the CNA Academy in Madison, AL. Her scholarship was funded by our 2019 Scramble for Scholarships fundraiser. Thank you to our donors, sponsors, and volunteers! Hill Technology Solutions Inc (HTSI) and Torch Technologies were scholarship level sponsors. Latrice was a scholarship awardee in 2018 but due to issues with last year’s training provider, we retrained her at the CNA Academy. Latrice is now working as a CNA and will be enrolling in a Licensed Practical Nursing program.
Congratulations to Cody White!! Cody graduated last night from J.F. Drake State Community & Technical College with an Associate Degree in Engineering Graphics (drafting). Cody is already working full-time with a civil engineering company (4Site). His benefits include 100% paid health, dental, and vision insurance! Cody plans to continue his education with a bachelors and masters degree. Cody managed full course loads while working nearly full time and finished with a near 4.0 GPA. One of Cody's class projects was on a team designing an underwater rover. A large part of Cody's tuition was funded by a grant to AOD by Intrepid.
Heather received an AOD scholarship in August 2017 for Phlebotomy (blood drawing) training at Calhoun Community College which she completed later that year. She is the first high school graduate in her family, a mother to a young son, and loves children, family, and her church. She is motivated to give him a wonderful life. Heather has parlayed her training into a position at Fresenius Kidney Care as of December 2018 where she is in training to become a certified Hemodialysis Technician by the end of 2019. We are pleased to have had a part in helping Heather achieve her goals and appreciate our donors who make our scholarships possible!
Our first success story is Anita Williams.
Martha Collins completed the Licensed Practical Nursing program at J.F. Drake State Community and Technical College in December 2015. Martha worked two part-time jobs as a caregiver to pay the bills while she attended classes and raised her 17-year old daughter. Martha has lived in the Huntsville area for seven years after moving here from Selma, Alabama. She loves to help the elderly, especially those who don't have family able to visit often. Martha passed her state license exam on January 27, 2016 and was hired February 19, 2016 as a full-time Licensed Practical Nurse at Millennium Nursing and Rehabilitation. AOD thanks Amy Devers of Devers Consulting Group who helped Martha with her resume. AOD will also be sending Martha to Financial Peace University. Martha plans to eventually become a Registered Nurse. She recently married Mr. Myron Johnson. God is good!
Ashley Battle is one of two scholarship recipients who completed Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) training in May 2016 at J.F. Drake State Technical and Community College. Each AOD scholarship covered the tuition, book, uniform patch, an allowance for scrubs, and the state exam fee. AOD will also send Ashley to Financial Peace University after she is employed as a CNA. Ashley's scholarship was made possible by a generous grant from Toyota Motor Manufacturing Alabama.
Monica graduated from Hazel Green High School with an Advanced Alabama High School Diploma in May 2005. She met her husband at church in 2004 and they married in November 2006. They now have 3 daughters, a 6-year old and 3-year old twins. She also has a few nieces and nephews who she has had a large hand in raising since they were born. Monica had never planned to go to college to further her education. She was happy working a retail job that she had for almost 10 years. In August 2013, one of her nieces was diagnosed with Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia (CML). Monica immediately went with her niece and her mom to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis. She traveled back and forth from Huntsville and Memphis for the month she was there while still tending to her own children. The impact the nurses at St. Jude’s made on her made her decide to be one of them.
Tuneka Smith graduated Mississippi State in May 2017 with a bachelors degree in Criminology. She is the first college graduate in her family and the first college graduate from the cadet year group August 2012 – May 2015 of Aberdeen High School Air Force Junior ROTC (Aberdeen, MS). Tuneka was selected for an AOD scholarship while AOD board member Jeff Coggin served as the Senior Aerospace Instructor for the JROTC program. Tuneka plans to serve in the U.S. Air Force with a goal to later join the FBI.