Findlay woman receives highest nursing award at Owens

Owens Community College will graduate 255 students, including 113 nurses, at its 45th Fall Commencement on Friday. Among the nurses is Lauren Kern of Findlay, who received the Peggy Bensman Award, the highest honor for a nursing graduate. The award is named after the first chair of the college's nursing department. It is presented to one graduate each semester to recognize academic achievement and community and personal leadership, to encourage high professional standards and to strengthen the ideas and image of nursing. Kern is a 2021 graduate of Liberty-Benton High School who received her licensed practical nurse (LPN) degree from Apollo Career Center in Lima in 2023 before attending Owens to receive her registered nurse (RN) degree this year. A Findlay resident, she attended classes on Owens' Findlay campus. Kern said a teacher at Liberty-Benton, Carol Treece, encouraged her to go into nursing. "My motivation throughout college was my goals for the future," Kern said. "I have always wanted to be an RN." Along with a supportive family, Kern said nursing instructors Dr. Judith Waxler and Wendy Zettel were amazing during the program. She has accepted a position at Blanchard Valley Hospital, where she will work in the ICU. From there, her plans include getting her BSN, possibly also at Owens. April Roach of Forest, who also studied on the Findlay campus, was among the recipients of the Barbara Rood Student Choice Nursing awards. Other winners were Scott Combs of Toledo, Nikaija Colbert of Toledo and Makaylee Wilgus of Maumee. Winners of this award were selected by their fellow students, with one among each of the four cohorts of the nursing program. Nursing students on the Findlay campus selected Roach as their honoree. Roach, 49, first attended Bluffton College in 1994 but left during her sophomore year. Over the years, she's worked in various medical offices and has been a licensed massage therapist since 2003. She returned to college in 2023 to earn her RN degree at Owens. She hopes to work as a surgical nurse while pursuing a dream of becoming a travel nurse. Roach credited a strong support system for her success, including her husband, parents, sisters, friends and former coworkers. She also said assistant professor Jacqueline Heilmann made her excited to be a nurse from day one. "I would say the only obstacle during my nursing education is my now 49-year-old brain does not remember or memorize information the way my younger brain used to," Roach said. The 255 students graduating Friday include 37 students from the Findlay campus. A total of 60 students will graduate with honors, earning a 3.5 grade-point average or higher. Three ceremonies will be held at the Center for Fine and Performing Arts Theatre on Owens' Perrysburg campus. At 9 a.m., 50 students from the School of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics will graduate. At noon, 12 students from the School of Business, Hospitality and Public Safety will graduate, along with 45 students from the School of Liberal Arts and three professions students from the School of Nursing and Health Professions. At 3 p.m., the 113 nurses will graduate and have their pinning ceremony. All of these numbers include fall graduates only and do not include summer graduates who are also walking during the ceremonies. Admission to the ceremonies is by ticket only. All ceremonies also will be livestreamed. Visit www.owens.edu/commencement to watch online.