With 92 graduates, the Southern Westchester BOCES Licensed Practical Nursing Program made history this year as the largest class ever to march to the podium to be awarded with well-deserved diplomas.

"This is the most magnificent graduation I have ever seen," said Maria Morgan, director of the BOCES Center for Adult and Community Services, at the June 20 th ceremony. "This group has been supportive, always working as a team. I am extremely proud of them."

"We thank you," said Ms. Morgan. "I know you will succeed because I have seen the work you do."

The high number of graduates is nearly double the average. The BOCES Career Services campus in Valhalla provided the setting for the graduation, which was held beneath a white tent on a balmy summer evening, and attended by the graduates and their guests, more than 500 in all. Graduates of the program receive certification that allows them to work in hospitals.

Clearly, the arduous course, which involves 10 months of daytime classes or 20 months of   evening classes, did not deter this ambitious group of nursing students, who also succeeded in creating another program first.

The 2007 Outstanding Student Award, which ordinarily is awarded to one student with the highest classroom grade average, this year was granted to two students. "There was an absolute tie for this honor in the day program," said LPN Program Supervisor Harry Kaplan. "No one can recall that this has never happened before," he said. The award went to both Sylvia L. Hoad-Nickles and Leslie-Ann Sandford, who was also a speaker.

The evening student honored with the Outstanding Student Award was Clement S. Skowronek, who thanked the faculty, staff, friends and family for their support, and during his speech, put the profession of nursing into historical perspective.

"One hundred and fifty years ago, if you needed a surgeon, you visited your local blacksmith," he said. "There was no such thing as penicillin, and if you needed your leg amputated, a saw and a bottle of whiskey were the main tools used. The inadequate nursing care of the sick was forced upon prisoners, orphans and dependents of the state in order to repay their financial debts to society. And then, a woman named Florence Nightingale came on the scene and revolutionized the concept of nursing.

"Why have we chosen to become nurses? Because we share something with those first nurses of long ago - a professional, sincere concern for the health and well-being of our patients," said Mr. Skowronek.

Other awards included the 2007 Westchester Community Foundation Thomas J. and Margaret Lynch O'Connor Scholarship Awards, which were presented to Janice A. Lounds-Higgins, Andrea N. Joseph and June E. Treston. The memorial scholarship fund helps people of promise move into meaningful careers.

The SWBOCES Award for Clinical Excellence, presented to the student who has displayed the highest level of technical competence and professional performance in clinical rotations, went to Janet M. Casterlin and Elizabeth Hernandez.

The service culminated with the traditioinal candle-lighting ceremony and recitation of the Nurse's Pledge.

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