{"id":80553,"date":"2026-01-07T20:18:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T20:18:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/80553\/"},"modified":"2026-01-07T20:18:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T20:18:08","slug":"penn-state-berks-graduates-16-students-from-practical-nursing-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/80553\/","title":{"rendered":"Penn State Berks graduates 16 students from practical nursing program"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>WYOMISSING, Pa.\u00a0\u2014 Sixteen new\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/berks.psu.edu\/ce\/practical-nursing-program\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Penn State Berks practical nursing program<\/a>\u00a0graduates crossed the stage during the Penn State Berks fall commencement on Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025, at the Santander Arena. The students earned their certificates in practical nursing and are eligible for the National Council Licensure Examination-Practical Nurse, or NCLEX-PN.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Students began the 18-month program in August 2024. Along with their studies in the classroom, they also gained hands-on clinical experience with community partnerships in the greater Berks County area.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Graduates include: Nicholas Arthur, Courtney Downes, Haley Franklin, Jeralyn Freeman, Adamary Fuentes, Ashley Galindo, Alyssa Harris, Ayla Hernandez-Cruz, Marie Massillon, Talisa Peterson, Elisabeth Reyes-Avila, Robert Robinson, Teresa Rodriguez, Bianca Watt, Ashley Wentzel and Brian Woodson. Before the ceremony, several graduating class members were recognized for their achievements. The awards and winners include:\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Excellence in Clinical Practice\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Presented to the nursing student who best displays a high regard for clinical care and clinical aptitude. This award was presented to Bianca Watt.\u00a0<br \/>\nAcademic Achievement Award\u00a0\u2014 Presented to the student with the highest grade-point average throughout the program.\u00a0This award was presented to Courtney Downes.<br \/>\nContinuing Education Award\u00a0\u2014 Presented to the student(s) who embodies the spirit, commitment, and dedication to higher education.\u00a0This award was presented to Marie Massillon.<br \/>\nPerfect Attendance Awards \u2013 Presented to Courtney Downes, Jeralyn Freeman and\u00a0Adamary Fuentes.<\/p>\n<p>Penn State Berks is now accepting applications for the August 2026 practical nursing program. To register for a remote information session, select a TEAS (Test of Essential Academic Skills) testing date, or learn how to apply for the program, visit\u00a0<a href=\"mailto:https:\/\/berks.psu.edu\/ce\/practical-nursing-program\">the\u00a0practical nursing web page<\/a>.\u00a0For more information, contact Cathleen Phillips, education program specialist, at\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.psu.edu\/news\/berks\/story\/mailto:CXP57@psu.edu\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">CXP57@psu.edu<\/a>\u00a0or 610-396-6225.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WYOMISSING, Pa.\u00a0\u2014 Sixteen new\u00a0Penn State Berks practical nursing program\u00a0graduates crossed the stage during the Penn State Berks fall&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":80554,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[128,130,129],"class_list":{"0":"post-80553","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-reading","8":"tag-reading-city","9":"tag-reading-city-headlines","10":"tag-reading-city-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80553","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80553"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80553\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/80554"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80553"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80553"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80553"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}