PRESS RELEASE: JULY 8, 2025

SJR State celebrates PN nursing graduates

Nicole Handy-Bass and Jonah Hodo were awarded the Florence Nightingale Award

Academic Excellence Award was awarded to Abigail Brock and Whengirl Remy.

St. Johns River State College recently held a pinning ceremony to recognize the Practical Nursing (LPN) graduates. A continued tradition of Florence Nightingale, the pinning ceremony symbolizes the rite of passage into the nursing profession and the care and devotion nurses provide. Graduates received a pin that serves as a reminder of their purpose to serve the sick and infirmed.

During the ceremony, Jonah Hodo and Nicole Handy-Bass were awarded the Florence Nightingale Award for demonstrating outstanding compassion toward others, leadership in class and devotion to clients and their families. The Academic Excellence Award was awarded to Whengirl Remy and Abigail Brock.

Practical nursing graduates include: Tyra Ashley, Abigail Brock-Smith, Taniyah Collier, Whengirl Remy, Tayler Dietrich, Deandra Gibbs, Nicole Handy-Bass, Michael Henschel, Jonah Hodo, Madison Mazerolle, Sierra Emerald Puckett, Winifred Ricks-Coon, Ashlyn Skeens, Chifon Smith, Roman Tefera, Aeyzeleen Vasquez, Tiffany Renee Watkins and Kirstyn Marie Wilder

SJR State offers additional healthcare programs such as nursing assistant, the ASN and BSN, respiratory care, sonography, health information technology and radiologic technology. For more information on degree and certificate programs in the health care field, call (386) 312-4176 or visit SJRstate.edu.

Additional photos from the ceremony can be found on SJR State’s flickr page.

Practical Nursing (LPN) graduates