Sixteen CSM Students Earn Scholarships from Greater Waldorf Jaycees and CSM Foundation

The Greater Waldorf Jaycees and College of Southern Maryland (CSM) Foundation awarded 16 scholarships to CSM students at a dinner reception and ceremony on Wednesday, Sept. 5. The ceremony marked the 25th year that the Greater Waldorf Jaycees Foundation and the CSM Foundation have partnered to award 595 Charles County students more than $1.5 million through a shared scholarship fund.  

This year’s 11 new scholarship award recipients are Savannah Dement, Elizabeth Holmes, Isabel Jefferson, Saniya Kelly, Grace Klaas, Jolie Lombardi, Najah Mayton, Jaiden Minor, Erica Nakalembe, Alexander Rieman, and MacKenna Zopelis.  

There were also five renewed scholarship recipients – Kamryn Carbonneau, Emma Curry, Haley Elliott, Corinne Mahaffey, and Joseph Rieman.  

CSM President Dr. Yolanda Wilson and CSM’s “faculty and staff are doing some pretty amazing things to make college more accessible for our residents in Charles County,” said Kevin Wedding, president of the Greater Waldorf Jaycees Foundation, in his opening remarks at the ceremony in Waldorf.  These scholarships help “students afford college and help you earn workforce credentials, micro-badges, or graduate from CSM and move on to join the growing workforce here in Southern Maryland.”  

“We are honored and privileged to serve students with rich and diverse backgrounds who come to our institution seeking a better future for themselves and their families,” Wilson said in her remarks. “You – our students – come with the hope of finding something more at CSM and believe that here, in our place of learning, you can find it. And you can,” she said.  “Here at CSM, we are eager to position our college as a stronger engine of social and economic mobility and we accomplish this through collaborative visioning and building success together.”  

Wilson also recognized honored guests, including elected officials, CSM Board of Trustees, the college and career counselors from each of the county high schools, and she reflected on the shared goals of CSM and the Jaycees. 

Carbonneau renewed scholarship will assist her in her career goal is to become a licensed nurse practitioner.   

“I have just begun the wonderful nursing program,” she told reception attendees. “This year, I plan to join the Nursing Student Association that CSM offers. I chose CSM not only because it’s more cost-effective, but also because they have an outstanding nursing program and an incredible new Health and Science Building,” at the Regional Hughesville Campus. “CSM also provides opportunities for people at different stages of life to obtain their degrees.  

“I watched my mom earn her degree through CSM and knew I could do it, too,” she added.  

“The CSM Foundation is the fundraising and friend-raising arm of the college, with a board composed of all volunteers from our three Southern Maryland counties raising money for our students,” Trey Proctor, CSM Foundation vice chair, said. “The CSM Foundation works very hard to raise money for scholarships, programs, and technology, and we are grateful to have a foundation board dedicated to the mission of this college and its students.” 

Providing scholarships isn’t just about paying for courses, Proctor said. It is also an investment in young people who will have a profound impact in the community’s future.  

“For our students, the scholarships they received as a result of the generosity of donors like the Jaycees is beyond what we can describe,” he shared.  

To see more photographs from the ceremony, please visit Zenfolio | College of Southern Maryland Photos | 24 Jaycees Scholars