2011 Winners
$1,500 PWC Family Member Scholarship
Nathan Zibolski
Nathan is the son of PWC member Karen Zibolski. He graduated from high school in June 2011 and plans on pursuing a Pre-Med degree at the University of Minnesota. His goal is to become a doctor or pharmacist. Nathan has been very active in high school sports, lettering in football, wrestling, and baseball. He is a member of the National Honor Society and on Student Council. He spends a lot of time doing various types of volunteer work from organizing a blood drive to coaching younger children in football.
$1,500 Margaret Hoffman PWC Scholarship/Mary McBurney Memorial Scholarship
Since Nancy is a PWC member, her scholarship is also designated a Mary McBurney Memorial Scholarship; in honor of our late former PWC President whose dedication helped create the PWC Scholarship Program.
Nancy Thompson
Nancy is a PWC member and an air traffic control specialist at Albuquerque Air Route Traffic Control Center. She is pursuing her Master’s Degree in Aeronautical Science with double emphasis in Safety Systems and Operations at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. She maintains a 4.0 GPA. She has been involved as a substitute teacher in choir and instructor at band camps for many years . She volunteers for numerous organizations such as Habitat for Humanity and Girl Scouts of America.
$2,000 Jacque Smith Burdette Scholarship for a Career in Aviation Scholarship
Dekiyra Love
Dekiyra is a sophomore at Purdue University majoring in Professional Flight Technology with a triple minor in Japanese, Asian Studies, and Organizational Leadership and Supervision. She currently works at Signature Flight Support at Kansas City Downtown airport. Last year she was chosen as one of Purdue’s “Five Students Who Are Modern Day Amelias”.
$2500 PWC Recruitment Scholarship
Sara Baty
After taking a tour of Seattle TRACON, Sara knew she wanted to be an air traffic controller. She graduated from college with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and enrolled in Green River Community College’s CTI school. She is currently working as a part time clerk at Seattle TRACON and will be graduating from Green River in December.
2010 Winners
$1,500 Jacqueline Smith Burdette Scholarship for a Career in Aviation Scholarship
Rosely Netrefa
Rosely grew up in Brazil. Watching airliners at Sao Paulo’s Congonhas Airport gave her a desire to become a pilot. In1987 at age 17, speaking no English, she immigrated to the United States. She learned English, worked various jobs, became a flight attendant for United Airlines, became a U.S. citizen, took flight training, and never lost sight of her goals. She became a flight instructor in 2002, and earned a BS from Embry-Riddle in 2004. In 2007, she was hired as first officer at American Eagle Airlines, flying the Saab 340 out of Los Angeles. A year later, she moved up to the Embraer 145 (a 50-passenger regional jet). Her short-term goals include earning an ATP Certificate and attaining the rank of Captain. When PWC co-founder Jacque heard about Rosely, she said: “Rosely represents women, diversity, and determination, plus she is goal oriented, energetic, and helps others. She’s an American the hard way!”
$1,500 Herman J. Lyons Jr., Memorial Scholarship
Rose Merchant-Bennett
Rose Merchant-Bennett’s goals are clear: to complete her Master of Aeronautical Science with specialties in Safety and Human Factors next August (she maintains a 4.0 GPA); and then use her knowledge to impact NextGen in a positive way. The focus of her thesis is: “Safety implications for the changing role of air traffic controllers in NextGen.” Rose hopes to address the needs of controllers as NextGen is implemented. Professionally, her many accomplishments include: FAA’s Terminal Lead for the Task Force on Advance Automation System; member of the Tiger Team addressing issues with STARS (Standard Terminal Automation Replacement System); Office of Safely representative for the ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization) audit determining FAA compliance with ICAO standards; and
lead for several independent assessments on major system acquisitions. Her volunteer efforts reflect her
dedication to her work: past President of AFSCME (union at HQ); twice served as line of business chair for Combined Federal Campaign; and Mentor in the PWC/TWO Mentor program. In PWC, Rose is irreplaceable: a member for 25 years and on the Board of Directors for half that time; she has been
the National Conference Chair for the past six years.
$1,500 PWC Recruitment Scholarship
Lauren Vala
Lauren is in a combined BS/MS program for Aviation Management in Purdue University’s FAA-approved College Training Initiative (CTI) program. She will be their first student to complete the combined degree, graduating this December. One of her goals is to work on improving efficiency of operations at congested airports. Lauren was one of two selected for Indianapolis Tower’s first intern program; she passed the difficult Certified Member exam for the American Association of Airport Executives (AAAE) and has completed a project assessing pilot training needs associated with new runway lighting equipment.
$1,500 PWC Mary McBurney Member Scholarship
Shoshana Frank
Shoshana’s passion for aviation became focused on air traffic control after she attended an FAA Aviation
Career Education (ACE) camp during high school, where she graduated as Valedictorian. Now, she is a student in Daniel Webster College’s CTI program in New Hampshire where she was selected to become a Student Ambassador in their Admissions Office. She’ll earn her BS in Air Traffic Management and Homeland Security next May, and she is the Vice President for the New England chapter of Women
in Aviation, Int’l (WAI).
$1,500 PWC Mary McBurney Member Scholarship
Paul Lore
Paul is a long-time controller, currently working as an instructor at the FAA Academy (radar courses) as well as an adjunct instructor at the University of Oklahoma. He is working on a dual MS in Public Administration and PolicyAnalysis. His long-term goal is to be one of the few controllers with a PhD!
He writes about the ‘verses’ of one’s life rather than the ‘goals.’ Paul writes in his essay about the verses that have shaped his life, from his early life, his years in the Marines, and then his journey of self-education, begun in 1984. Paul loves teaching, and says his scholarship “will not be a scholarship for one individual, but rather, it will influence all the students that will pass through my classroom.”
Six Winners Will be Awarded $1,000 Scholarship
Aimee Chase is awarded a PWC Family Member Scholarship. Trisha Cummings, Christine Dow, Tami Gibbs, Brittany Majewski, and Jennifer Sloane are all awarded PWC Mary McBurney Member Scholarships. Full descriptions of each winner can be found on the Scholarship Page of the PWC website.