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SEPTEMBER 2017

FUNERAL HOME & CEMETERY NEWS

S ec t i on A

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New NTCC Funeral Service Education

Program One-step Closer to

Accreditation

Selected Trust announces Scholarships

NEWS

Educational

Darlene Glidden

Greg Burton

Leanne Hall

DEERFIELD,IL—

Select-

ed Independent Funeral

Homes’ Educational Trust

has announced three new

recipients of the Second-

Career Scholarship in the

amount of $1,500 each. The

winners are

Darlene Glid-

den

of Acton, MA;

Greg

Burton

of Medora, IN; and

Leanne Hall

of Glen Bur-

nie, MD. This scholarship

was created to meet the ed-

ucational needs of the in-

creasing number of second-

career professionals entering

independent funeral service

seeking positions as funeral

directors and future leaders.

Darlene Glidden, en-

rolled at

Mount Ida College

in Newton, MA, will gradu-

ate in May 2018. Currently

employed at

Bosk Funer-

al Home

in MA, Glidden

hopes to continue her em-

ployment there once li-

censed and degreed. Glid-

den comes to the funeral

profession with five years of

experience as a firefighter

and an emergency medical

technician.

Glidden explains why she

has chosen her new path. “I

have always found the funer-

al rite a beautiful and sym-

bolic time,” said Glidden.

“To me, there is so much

more to it than simply say-

ing farewell to a loved one.”

Greg Burton, a full-time

student at

Mid-American

College of Funeral Service Sci-

ence,

expects to graduate in

September 2017. Burton,

like Glidden comes from a

background in emergency

service, having served eight

years as a paramedic. He is

currently employed at

Allen

Funeral Home

in Bloom-

ington, IN.

“I want to be a leader and

the best at what I do,” said

Burton. “It is important to

me to work and be involved

with independently-owned

funeral homes.”

Leanne Hall has just com-

pleted her first year at the

Community College of Balti-

more County

in theMortuary

Science Program and expects

to graduate in the summer

of 2018. Hall comes from a

background in cosmetology

and she believes her skills set

will be beneficial to her sec-

ond profession.

“Helping people to see

their loved ones once again,

as they remembered them,

and giving families the con-

fidence that they are being

well taken care of is my pri-

mary purpose,” said Hall.

Since the award was first

launched in late 2010, the

Board of Trustees has award-

ed 31 scholarships to deserv-

ing individuals seeking a ca-

reer in funeral service.

More information on

scholarship parameters, as

well as the official applica-

tion and complete list of

previous winners is available

www.selectedtrust.org/

second-career-scholarship/.

The Second-Career Schol-

arship is one of several pro-

grams of the Selected Edu-

cational Trust, which was

founded by

Selected Inde-

pendent Funeral Homes,

a worldwide professional as-

sociation of independent, lo-

cally-owned funeral homes

founded in 1917. By creat-

ing the program, the Trust

hopes to attract and assist fu-

ture practitioners interested

in entering the profession.

More information on the Se-

lected Educational Trust and

its activities can be found at

www.selectedtrust.org

MOUNT PLEASANT,TX—

Northeast Tex-

as Community College

is one-step closer

to having a fully accredited funeral service

education program, as the American Board

of Funeral Service Education (ABFSE) re-

cently granted the program candidacy.

Rebecca Gardner,

NTCC director of

funeral service education, and

Dr. Shan-

non Cox-Kelley,

NTCC dean of health

sciences, traveled to Myrtle Beach, SC to

defend the program’s self-study that was

submitted to the ABFSE late last year.

“This is a major milestone on the path to

initial accreditation. We still have another

year until initial accreditation can be re-

ceived, but this is a good indication that

the program is heading in the right direc-

tion,” Gardner said.

The next step in the process is to develop

a new self-study this year, starting the pro-

cess of retaining initial accreditation with

the ABFSE. The program will have another

visit early next year and hopes to gain full

accreditation by April 2018.

“The faculty and students of the funer-

al service program would like to extend a

big thank you for the support they have re-

ceived thus far from NTCC, area funeral

homes, and the community,” Gardner said.

NTCC Funeral Service Education accept-

ed its first class during the Fall 2016 semes-

ter. The innovative curriculum allows stu-

dents to complete most of their coursework

online and then participate in intensive clin-

ical experiences to practice hands-on skills.

“The ABFSE Board specifically com-

mended Rebecca and the college for their

thorough and comprehensive work on

the program to date. They continued to

state that the college showed innovation

in their curriculum design and great fore-

thought in the program,” Cox-Kelley said.

“This really is a great accomplishment on

behalf of the program.”

The NTCC Funeral Service Education

Program is one of only five programs in

the state of Texas. It is currently accepting

new students for the Fall 2017 semester.

For more information, contact Gardner at

903-434-8314 or

rgardner@ntcc.edu