News Photo by Temi Fadayomi LPN Certificate recipient Lauren Fairbanks being Pinned by an Alpena Community College nursing program alum during the college’s annual pinning ceremony on Wednesday.

ALPENA — On Wednesday, Alpena Community College (ACC) celebrated the 50th anniversary of its nursing program with its pinning ceremony for Licensed Practical Nurses (LPN) and Registered Nurses.

ACC’s nursing program was started in the summer of 1972 with 30 students enrolling into the new LPN program under director Ruth Garnham Thackston and instructors Judy Beyer and Rosalie Godt and 22 of them graduating in the spring of 1973.

Now, after 50 years of existence, the program has seen nearly 1,350 men and women earn either a certificate of practical nursing, an associate degree in nursing, or a combination of the two.

To celebrate the school’s rich history, Director of Alumni Relations Mary Eagan reached out to ACC nursing alumni to participate in the pinning ceremony.

During the pinning portion of the ceremony, 36 individual LPN Certificate and RN Associate Degree recipients were called up by name where they received their pin from an ACC nursing alumnus.

“I was honored,” Nancy Spencer, an ACC nursing alumnus and current CEO of Alcona Health Center (AHC), said. “It’s a wonderful event, (and I) hope that it will continue.”

Eagan was happy with the alumni turnout for Wednesday’s ceremony and hopes that this becomes a fixture for ACC pinning ceremonies moving forward.

“I would like this to become a new tradition,” Eagan said, “Where alumni are invited to campus each year and they can take part in the pinning ceremony.”

The ceremony also saw the ACC Foundation announce the Nursing Student Certification Support Fund.

Made in memory of the late Maxine Moran, the Nursing Student Certification Support Fund is a fund made with the intent of reimbursing nursing students for some of the debt they would have acquired during their program, specifically in relation to the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) exam.

“We don’t have these exams locally,” Egan said about the NCLEX exams. “The exam to take can be $250, $300. It’s a real hardship for people living in this area of the state.”

As of now, the fund has enough money to reimburse this year’s and next year’s nursing students for their NCLEX exam costs and donations are being accepted to be able to maintain itself in the future.

When the ceremony was completed, the newly pinned nursing students gathered in the Besser Technical Center Commons where they were able to help themselves to snacks as well as reminisce on their experiences.

“It’s emotional,” RN Associate Degree recipient Caitlin Ison said in reflection of her experience. “It’s been a long journey through tears, sweat, and panic attacks but now we’ve made it.”

“We couldn’t have done it without our friends, family, and facility,” RN Associate Degree recipient Mattew Roskey said. “And now, we’re real nurses.”

Alpena Community College was incorrectly identified in an earlier version of this story.