Nursing student is first Dumaine Farms Scholar at RCC

WENTWORTH — As an Eden teenager, inspiration from a teacher set the course for Katie Watson's life.

"I was struggling trying to decide what I wanted to do when I grew up," she said. "My health occupational teacher, Ms. Martha Corum, told me she thought I'd be a good nurse, and I ran with it."

When she earned her high school diploma, Watson enrolled in the nursing program at Rockingham Community College, and she loved it – both the program of study and attending RCC.

"(The college) is in my community, and my teachers have been so supportive and helpful and feel like family, honestly," Watson said. "I love my teachers."

For anyone debating about going to RCC, she has some advice.

"I don't think anyone should be on the fence. I think RCC has the best Nursing program," Watson said. "My experience has been so good, I would highly recommend it to others," she said. "The instructors are amazing. Nursing is hard, but the instructors are encouraging and push you to do your best. They're always available when you need them."

Watson earned her Licensed Practical Nursing diploma in 2015 and began her career.

"I worked to get my feet wet in nursing and grow my confidence," she said.

She also started a family, having two little girls.

"When the youngest started kindergarten, I said we could all be in school together," Watson said. "The timing was right, and I came back to RCC."

She's now in her first semester of the Licensed Practical Nursing to Associate Degree Nursing (LPN to ADN) program, and she is amazed with RCC's simulated hospital, a renovation of the Jerry Owens Health Sciences Building that took place in 2016 after she graduated the first time.

"The simulation lab and everything they have created is great for nurses and their learning," Watson said. "When I came back, I was sad that I didn't get to experience it when I was in the first program."

"It's realistic. They do scenarios, and it's amazing how real everything is," she added, comparing the simulated hospital environment to her real-life experience in the field of nursing.

When she graduates from the LPN to ADN bridge program in May 2025, she will have the knowledge to take a national licensure exam to become a Registered Nurse.

"I'm a mama, a wife, I'm in school, and I'm working. It's hard to balance it all, but somehow, I'm doing it," Watson said. "I study while they're at school."

She has been working at Annie Penn Hospital in Reidsville for more than two years and is now covering a 12-hour shift in the medical-surgical unit on Saturdays and Sundays.

"I thought med-surg was a good place to start, because it's kind of an 'everything' floor," Watson said. "My goal is to try the emergency room. I think that will help me figure out what I want to specialize in. Hopefully, I'll get the emergency room for my residency. I feel like I need to grow in critical care. I have a plan; I just have to get there."

One aspect at RCC that is helping to ease her load is that Watson received the Dumaine Farm scholarship.

Dumaine Farm Scholarship

Although Frederic "Buck" Dumaine Jr.'s father was born into an extremely poor family in Massachusetts in the mid-1800s, when he died in 1951 he left his heirs a $55 million estate and a controlling interest in The Amoskeag Co., a Boston investment firm.

Two years later, Dumaine bought Fieldcrest Mills with assets from that investment firm.

"That business is what brought Mr. Dumaine to Eden and the Rockingham County area," said Scott Shoulars, one of the Dumaine Farm trustees and an agriculture field specialist with the Farmland Preservation division of the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

"He purchased quite a bit of farmland and had people growing crops," he said. "He was an outdoorsman, was an avid bird hunter and kept bird dogs."

The land, comprised of acreage in multiple locations, was organized as an experimental demonstration farm to show that an ecologically sound farm could be profitable and could be combined with wildlife management and conservation of natural areas.

In 1977, Dumaine created a trust with the farm to hold the property and to continue to maintain, improve, operate and manage the land as an experimental and demonstration farm.

"As trustees, we have looked at doing some different things. We've done some agricultural research on the farm," Shoulars said. "We use all the best agricultural methods. We use forest management plans that the North Carolina Forest Service has been able to utilize as an example for other land owners in the county."

In fact, Dumaine Farm Trustee Steve Gibson was the local forest ranger for many years.

One of the projects the Trust supports is a summer camp that gives children exposure to agriculture and forestry. This year, the camp focused on pollinators and beekeeping.

"Several years ago, we created an agricultural scholarship at NC State University, and our board of trustees decided we wanted to do something to support Rockingham Community College," Shoulars said. "We've been working for a number of years trying to figure out a way to do that and how to fund it."

The trustees decided to support RCC's Nursing program. The board recognized that the Nursing program is very strong, but felt like county citizens could be well served by RCC's Nursing graduates, Shoulars said.

The Dumaine Farm Trust donated $250,000 to the RCC Foundation establish an endowed scholarship in Nursing. Being endowed means the RCC Foundation keeps the full amount invested, and scholarships are awarded from the interest the investment earns.

"I am honored and very grateful for the scholarship," scholarship recipient Katie Watson told Dumaine Farm trustees who were on campus Sept. 24 to meet her.

They responded that they are proud to have her represent the Trust as its first recipient.

In recognition of the quarter-million-dollar gift, RCC has named the biology lab in Science building as the Dumaine Farm Trust Biology Lab.

RCC President Dr. Mark Kinlaw said the College just expanded the Nursing program from 112 to 132 slots for students. He explained that RCC offers four levels of training: Nursing Assistant, Practical Nursing, LPN to ADN, and Registered Nursing.

Expanding the program is essential because there is a tremendous need for nurses that can hardly be met, Kinlaw said, adding that most of the Nursing students have job offers before they even graduate.

"We've done really well. Being in the renovated Health Science building with a simulated hospital, we can train at a much higher level than we were able to do previously," he said. "We have a good pipeline of students getting ready to apply to get into the program, and we have many taking anatomy and physiology classes that are required."

RCC works closely with the county school system to grow the number of students who are qualified for the Nursing program.

"It's not easy to get in, and it's not easy when you get in. It's a tough program, but students do really well," Kinlaw said. "We had 94% of our graduates this year pass the state exam on the first try, which is fantastic, and way ahead of the state average."

"We're very proud of what we're doing with Nursing program, but having scholarships is critical," he added. "That's how we're going to attract students because they're going to need the financial assistance because the nursing program is not inexpensive."