BY KARISSA MILLER
Three Career Academy and Technical School students shared heartfelt stories of career discovery, aspirations and service as they accepted scholarships awarded by the Rotary Club of Greater Statesville on Thursday afternoon.
CATS students Gabriella Cangero, Paisley Bennett and Brooklyn Pate, along with Angelica Orbista, who could not attend the event, but will be recognized Friday were selected to receive $2,500 scholarships for academic achievement, career preparation and community involvement.
For Cangero, the opportunity to attend CATS solidified her decision to become a pharmacist.
“When I met with Mr. Rogers to become a student here, he told me about the pharmacy program. I was like, ‘There’s no way I’m actually going to be able to get hands-on with this.’ But I did, and I learned so much,” she recalled.
“I genuinely don’t think I would have been able to know that’s what I wanted to do if I wasn’t able to go to the school,” she added.
Cangero, who participates in the Pharm Tech program, recently learned she had been accepted into an early assurance pharmacy program at UNC Chapel Hill after completing an interview.
“This is 100 percent what I wanted to do,” she said. “Science and helping people are my favorite things, so I absolutely love it.”
Bennett, a part-time CATS student whose home school is North Iredell High, is in the Nursing Fundamental program. She recently became a Certified Nursing Assistant after passing her test.
“In the fall, I will start at Appalachian State University in their nursing program,” she said.
Bennett said her experiences at CATS helped her realize her calling.
“CATS has meant the world to me. This has confirmed what I have to do in my life,” Bennett said. “I appreciate the scholarship. It has helped me tremendously.”
Pate, who is enrolled in the Nursing Fundamentals program, recently earned her CNA certification and plans to attend Western Carolina University before specializing in pediatrics.
She also spoke about the community service organization she helped establish at her high school.
“I am a co-founder and president of Engage for Change at my high school,” Pate said. “It’s a community service club, and we have over 50 members. We’ve had it running for three years now.”
Pate said CATS’ clinical and hospice experiences made a lasting impact.
“I love all the hands-on experience,” she said. “Hospice was amazing. The patients were so sweet, and the staff was amazing too. It’s just been a really great experience at CATS.”
Principal Larry Rogers, who is a member of the Fourth Creek Rotary Club, praised the students and the impact of the academy’s programs.
“This school does so much for young people and preparing them for life,” Rogers said. “You see different results at this school.”
Iredell-Statesville Schools Superintendent and Rotarian Jeff James said CATS was designed to help students discover career pathways earlier and graduate with valuable certifications and college credits.
“We’re trying to engage students starting in the fifth grade,” James said. “It helps counselors and helps students narrow down what they may want to do in life.”
James said partnerships with local health-care providers and businesses give students meaningful real-world experience before graduation.
“Our students not only have a diploma, but have certifications,” he said. “When our kids walk out of here with a certification, they’re already doing what somebody else would have had to spend years preparing for.”
The Rotary Scholarship Selection committee members were Karen Bumgarner, Laura Hanson, Brandon Crouch, Dr. Jim Rhyne and Maureen Moore. The scholarship is possible because of donations of Rotary Club members and their respective businesses.