Madison White named first recipient of the Dean Hansell Training Scholarship | News, Sports, Jobs
Morning Journal/Morgan Ahart Madison White was the first recipient to receive the Dean Hansell Training Scholarship Thursday, which was made possible through a generous donation from Los Angeles Superior Court Justice Dean Hansell and the collaboration of the Salem Alumni Association and the Sustainable Opportunity Development Center was made possible. Pictured from left are Julie Needs, Executive Director of Sustainable Opportunity Development Center, Audrey Null, Executive Director of White and Alumni Association.
SALEM — The first recipient of the Dean Hansell Training Scholarship was honored with the scholarship award at the Center for Sustainable Opportunity Development (SOD) on Thursday.
Madison White received $2,500 to support her pursuit of a cosmetology certification at Raphael’s School of Beauty Culture in Boardman. The 16-month, 1,800-hour program covers all aspects of hair care, including cutting, coloring and other common treatments, waxing, nails and cosmetics. During the program, White will gain direct experience working with real clients throughout her education and training.
“We are thrilled to have Madison as our first recipient. We felt her passion and how long she has wanted to pursue a career in cosmetology alongside her desire to stay in the community made her application really stand out.” Julie Needs, Executive Director of the Sustainable Opportunity Development Center.
Knowing that she had wanted to pursue a career in cosmetology for most of her life, White noted that her mother had attended Raphaels for her cosmetology certification and she always wanted to follow in her footsteps.
“My mom left when I was 7 and I was her model. So naturally I wanted to learn how to do what she was doing and I started doing my girlfriend’s hair and makeup. So I pretty much always knew I wanted to do that.” said White.
After completing her credentials, White would like to apprentice with a more experienced beautician for a period of time to hone and broaden her skills before pursuing her own business and opening her own booth.
The Dean Hansell Training Scholarship was established in 2018 by Judge Dean Hansell with a $10,000 donation. A graduate of the Salem’s Class of 1970, Hansell wanted to support parishioners who wanted to expand their skills after high school in ways other than attending college.
Hansell originally turned to the alumni association; However, the executive director of the alumni association, Audrey Null, said her grants must have a minimum endowment of $100,000 and be for the pursuit of a college degree.
“Given Judge Hansell’s desire to help each graduate pursue technical training and the size of the endowment, we felt his intentions would be best served through the SOD Center.” said zero.
The scholarship provides applicants up to $2,500 in funding for Salem High School graduates of any age who have been accepted into an accredited vocational, engineering, trade, certification, or credentials program.
“Any graduate of Salem pursuing their certification, qualification or professional training is eligible, whether they graduated in 2022 or 1958 does not matter, they are eligible to apply. This is truly a fantastic opportunity to support upskilling or reskilling in a new area,” Must said.
Eligible areas of study include, but are not limited to, advanced manufacturing, automotive, computer engineering, civil engineering, cosmetics, culinary arts, electrical engineering, HVAC, healthcare, industrial maintenance, machining, plumbing, or welding.
The application can be found on the SOD Center website and is accepted on an ongoing basis. It will be available as long as the funding is there. Applications will be reviewed by a grants committee, with all decisions made by the SOD Center.
Preference is given to applicants who are currently unemployed or at risk, want to stay in the Salem area, can demonstrate financial need, want to expand their existing skills or need to retrain for professions that are in demand today.
