Penn State adult learners recognized by state association

University Park, Pa. -- Five Penn State adult learners are among the 10 students who will be honored by the Pennsylvania Association for Adult Continuing Education (PAACE) with Outstanding Adult Students in Higher Education awards.

“They, like many adult learners, have overcome tremendous obstacles and managed very busy lives in order to complete their education,” says Charlene Harrison, director of Penn State’s Center for Adult Learner Services. “I am thrilled that half of the adult learners receiving awards from PAACE this year are from Penn State and that the University is so well represented by these students.”

The award recognizes adult students who have, among other criteria, shown success in coping with numerous roles, have overcome difficult circumstances in order to pursue higher education needs and have taken innovative approaches to meeting personal education needs. Penn State honorees are: John Baumgardner, a human development and family studies graduate from Bellefonte; Angela Childers-Conner, a labor and industrial relations major from State College; Nina Cohen, a wildlife and fisheries science major residing in State College; Joseph Royer, a Penn State York staff member pursuing a bachelor’s degree in information sciences and technology; and Anne Alderman Stokes, a State College resident enrolled in the occupational therapy program at Penn State Mont Alto.

After losing the three things that often define a person –- their job, their marriage, and their home -- Baumgardner’s educational journey began. Injured on the job, he turned to community resources including GED prep classes and Adult Job Training Center stress management and computer skills courses prior to enrolling full-time in Penn State’s human development and family studies major at University Park. An August 2004 graduate, he was named to the dean’s list three times; inducted into the College of Health and Human Development honor society, Kappa Omicron Nu (KON); volunteered at a homeless shelter; and served as youth pastor and lay minister for his church. Baumgardner is a caseworker for Mifflin County Children and Youth Services.

A labor and industrial relations major with a 3.69 GPA, Childers-Conner is the first member of her family to go to college. She and her husband, who is also a student, are successfully running a household; alternating their schedules to take care of their three year old son; volunteering on a weekly basis in their daughter’s third grade class; and holding down several part-time jobs. Childers-Conner received the outstanding undergraduate achievement award from her department and a scholarship from the local branch of the American Association of University Women (AAUW). She also is a member of the University’s Schreyer Honor College.

Cohen began her college study at Yale University as a traditional-aged student. Her parents — her father a small-college graduate and her mother a non-American with a high school diploma — agreed that education was her ticket to success and security in the United States. Unprepared for the world of intense competition and terrifying freedom, Cohen left Yale. After a 12-year hiatus from school, she enrolled in Penn State’s wildlife and fisheries science major. She is treasurer of XI Sigma Pi, the national honor society for natural resources, and the Penn State Student Bird Club. Cohen maintains a 3.91 GPA and does freelance writing to subsidize her education.

A student at Penn State York as well as the campus’s IT network coordinator, Royer is pursuing his bachelor of science degree in information sciences and technology. A veteran of the U. S. Marines, he is a full-time employee and part-time adult learner. He maintains a 3.94 GPA, is a member of the adult learner honor society, Alpha Sigma Lambda, a two-time recipient of the York campus Keystone Award, and technical advisor for SCROUNGE, a club on campus that refurbishes used computers and then offers them free-of-charge to non-profit groups in the community. Royer is married and the father of two boys. Life outside Penn State includes coaching several baseball teams; he is also the vice president and information officer for York Little League.

Alderman Stokes is a 39-year-old adult learner who will obtain her bachelor’s degree in occupational therapy in May 2005 from Penn State Mont Alto. In addition to maintaining a 3.59 GPA and continued part-time enrollment at Penn State Mont Alto, Anne works full-time as a research support assistant in the Prevention Research Center at the University Park campus. A resident of State College, she is married and a mother of two daughters. She remains active as a volunteer in the State College community and serves as co-chair of the local chapter of Stand for Children.

For more information about Penn State’s Center for Adult Learner Services, visit http://www.sa.psu.edu/cals. For more information about PAACE, visit http://www.paacesite.org/.