Colorado Mountain College has awarded the first CMC Salida scholarships to Poppy Thorpe, Michelle Flores and Petra Fairman. In 2019, residents of the Salida School District voted to join the CMC taxing district, which has opened more post secondary educational opportunities in Chaffee County.
With the help of a scholarship from the CMC Foundation, Poppy Thorpe is working to complete prerequisites to enter CMC’s associate degree in nursing program. Image Courtesy of CMC.
Thorpe is a graduate of Salida High School and mother of two. She briefly attend CSU Pueblo but did not have a clear goal driving her forward. She is now nearing completion of the prerequisites needed to apply for CMC’s associate degree in nursing.
“Without this kind of help, it would have been hard to go back to school. I’ve worked in health care for 19 years, but I was a mom first, so I always had to put school on the back burner. Having this program available in my mountain town makes it possible for me to pursue my goals. I’m just really appreciative of the opportunity to do this,” said Thorpe.
Scholarship recipient, Flores is a firefighter who also runs a not-for-profit clinic for first responders in Salida. She aspired to take her EMS training to the next level with EMT training and a paramedic certification but was unsure how to keep the clinic operational while attending school.
Flores had just completed a doctorate in acupuncture and oriental medicine and had the student debt to prove it when she met with CMC program advisors. They suggested that she apply to the CMC foundation for funding and she was awarded the Zeke Pierce Memorial/Vail Rotary Club scholarship.
Michelle Flores, a firefighter who has doctorate degrees in acupuncture and oriental medicine, also runs a not-for-profit clinic for first responders in Salida. With the help of a scholarship from the CMC Foundation, she’s now earning EMT and paramedic certifications. Image courtesy of CMC.
Flores explained, “without support from the school, the Pierce family and the Vail Rotary Club, we wouldn’t have been able to do this. The CMC program made it so I could thrive in school and keep the clinic going.
“As a paramedic, I’ll be a more valuable firefighter. I can’t write research papers and books on field medicine if I don’t do it myself,” she said.
Flores also noted that the supplemental education she will complete this December is also crucial to her future academic success. “I’m really impressed with this school, and I’ve been to a lot of schools,” said Flores.
Peta Fairman says she plans to pursue an associate degree from the college and is still exploring her educational and career options. She hopes to complete a degree in general studies to gain the educational framework needed to build her future.
All three recipients expressed gratitude for the support they received and gave special thanks to CMC staff for connecting them with the opportunity to help achieve their goals.
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