The Benefis Health System Foundation announced in a press release recently that it has awarded 39 students from Great Falls and the surrounding region working toward degrees in healthcare with $91,300 in scholarships for the fall 2019 and spring 2020 semesters.
Jessica Lawrence, currently an EMS in Glacier County, was a recipient of a scholarship. She is currently in her second year of nursing school at the Blackfeet Community College in Browning.
She said, “This scholarship helps me pay for college. My degree is out of my pocket so being bale to earn this scholarship from Benefis has helped tremendously.”
Lawrence’s mother is a nurse and she has always wanted to follow in her footsteps. “It’s been my dream to be a nurse the last 20 years,” added Lawrence.
She believes she will be able to provide even more care to rural Montana by becoming a nurse.
Jillian Greenaway is another recipient of a scholarship and also currently enrolled in nursing school. She says the scholarship allows her to focus on being a full-time student and not having to work at the same time.
She said, “This is allowing me to focus on something I’m really passionate about for once and really learn the things that I need to be learning.”
Greenaway added that she likes this line of work because it feels meaningful. She said, “I’ve worked in a lot of jobs that weren’t meaningful to me and I’m happy to be moving in this direction now. Showing up for somebody when they’re struggling and not really knowing what to do and being that calm sense of security is important and it feels good.”
Nursing student and scholarship recipient Michaela Munsterteiger is also a nurse intern for the labor and delivery unit at Benefis.
Munsterteiger said, “The scholarship just kind of helps me concentrate on school and what my end goal is with nursing. I’m just looking forward to working with the population that we have and especially working at Benefis, I love the environment here.”
She believes she wants to continue working for the labor and delivery unit once she gets her nursing degree.
Nursing student and scholarship recipient Loni Frantzich is also a Critical Care Technician and a Patient Care Technician at Benefis.
Frantzich said, “I feel like Benefis has invested in me, both in my educational opportunities at work but also helping me complete my actual schooling. It will be nice to know I’ll have a home here when I’m done.”
Here is the list of people receiving scholarships:
Healthcare Endowment Scholarship: Brianna St. Lawrence-Brody, Great Falls – Nursing; Morgan Umphres, Great Falls – Physician Assistant
Frances M. Wylder Scholarship: Sydni Hogan, Great Falls – Nursing; Chelsey Schraner, Great Falls – Exercise Science
Rice Family Scholarship: Loni Frantzich, Great Falls – Nursing
Ed and Ethel Ugrin Memorial Scholarship: Nicholas Homler, Great Falls – Nursing
Jane M. Buckman Husted Memorial Nursing Scholarship: Bailey Collins, Great Falls – Nursing, Michaela Munsterteiger, Great Falls – Nursing
John and Darlene Skees Memorial Nursing Scholarship: Anne Brown, Great Falls – PhD in Nursing; Madisyn Gregoire, Great Falls – Nursing; Cheryl Kelly, Great Falls – Nursing; Jessica Lawrence, Cut Bank – Nursing; Mollie Plummer, East Helena – Nursing; Alexandra Potts, Great Falls – Doctorate of Nursing Practice; Kaitlyn Radonich, Great Falls – Nursing; Susan Rivas, Great Falls – Nursing; Lucas Wurz, Great Falls – Doctorate of Nursing Practice; Stephen Wurz, Great Falls – Doctorate of Nursing Practice
Margaret Wynn Memorial Nursing Scholarship: Tiffany Berczyk, Great Falls – Nursing; Toni Calloway, Great Falls – Nursing; Camille Landwehr, Great Falls – Nursing
Julie Hickethier Nursing Scholarship: Taylor Dahl, Lewistown – Nursing
Cecil and Dorothy Goodbrand Memorial Nursing Scholarship: Taylor Dahl, Lewistown – Nursing: Loni Frantzich, Great Falls – Nursing; Zoe George, Great Falls – Nursing; Jillian Greenaway, Great Falls – Nursing; Amanda Mauws, Lewistown – Nursing; Kayla McClain, Great Falls – Nursing; Michaela Munsterteiger, Great Falls – Nursing (pictured above); Erynn Murphy, Great Falls -Nursing; Mariah Plummer, East Helena, Nursing; Megan Rovere, Cascade – Nursing; Jeffrey Smith, Great Falls – Nursing; Crystal Thompson, Sun River – Nursing; Marissa VandenBos, Cut Bank – Nursing; Shelbi Wall, Great Falls – Nursing
Bonnie Gardner Memorial Nursing Scholarship: Brooke Thompson, Roy – Nursing
Darcy Dengel Mercy Flight Scholarship: DeVanie Pierson, Great Falls – Nursing
Benefis Family Endowment Scholarship: DawnRae Kafka, Great Falls – Interventional Radiology
Benefis Family Scholarship: Sarah Zook, Great Falls – Radiation Therapy
Bloemendaal Family Scholarship: Kaitlyn Radonich, Great Falls – Nursing
Mercy Flight Memorial-Darcy Dengel Nursing Scholarship: Virginia Meissner, Belt – Nursing
Mercy Flight Memorial-Paul Erickson Paramedic Scholarship: Wade Wagoner, Great Falls –Paramedic
Benefis Foundation provided an additional $2,000 to four MSU College of Nursing, Great Falls Campus Upper Division summer interns, made possible by the Cecil and Dorothy Goodbrand Nursing Scholarship.
The Benefis Foundation Healthcare Scholarship Program is designed to help college students pursue a degree, certification, or advancement in a medically related field. Thanks to the generosity of many donors, the Benefis Foundation has awarded more than 660 students with $1.28 million in scholarships over the past twenty-one years.
The Healthcare Scholarship Program offers a general Medical Education Scholarship, more than a dozen named scholarships funded by long-time donors, and several other scholarship opportunities.
