A GOOD FOUNDATION THE NEWSLETTER OF THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE
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SCHOLARSHIP HEAD PAT COLE RETIRES: 'IT HAS BEEN A FUN RIDE' Let’s go back to December 2004: President George W. Bush has just been reelected for another four-year term. Tom Brokaw retires as anchor of the NBC Nightly News. And Pat Cole retires from Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) after nearly 28 years, the past 18 as executive director of school counseling. Cue Ellen Lehman, then and now the president of The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee, and a woman on a mission to make Pat Cole’s retirement a brief one. “Ellen had asked me to join The Foundation three times,” Pat recalled not long ago. “I said I’d do it for a little while after I retired from MNPS, and I’m still here.” She finally managed to retire as senior coordinator of scholarships at The Community Foundation in late fall 2021. Kelly Pietkiewcz (pronounced Pet-KA-vish) replaces her. In an email to CFMT’s Scholarship Committee, Pat praised her successor as well as the committee. “Kelly brings experience in college admissions, financial aid and college counseling as well as a passion for helping students make their educational dreams a reality,” Pat wrote. "I appreciate all of you and the time you have devoted to reading and scoring scholarship applications. We could not have done awards without you!” A Shelbyville native, Kelly earned a bachelor’s degree in Education and master’s degree in Public Administration from the University of Memphis. She worked at her alma mater and the University of Alabama-Birmingham in undergraduate admissions and most recently worked as a college counselor at Nashville’s LEAD Academy. Meanwhile, our new retiree plans to travel even more with husband Ed Cole to places near and far, including visiting immediate family on the West Coast. "It has been a fun ride,” Pat told the Scholarship Committee. "Thanks to each of you!” A fun ride indeed. CFMT has awarded $28.445 million in scholarships to 10,771 students since 1995. She went out with a bang, as the organization awarded $745,000 in scholarships to 321 students in 2021. A native of Pacolet, South Carolina, Pat had scholarships to help pay her way through Winthrop University for a bachelor of arts degree in English, followed by a master’s degree in counseling and personnel services at the University of Florida. No telling how many thousands of students she has helped point in the right direction ever since. She still corresponds with many of her former scholarship recipients. "I read your email with very mixed feelings!” said Scholarship Committee member Betsy Walkup, a Board of Trustees member for The Community Foundation and a former Metro School Board chair, in a response to Pat’s retirement announcement. "First, I am so grateful for your incredible dedication to ensuring the success of young people throughout your career,” Betsy wrote. “It has indeed been a pleasure to work with you both at Metro Schools and at CFMT, and I will definitely miss you!
Pat and Ed Cole at their home.
"With your oversight of the CFMT scholarships, you have enabled many, many students to achieve their educational goals,” she continued. "The scholarship program is such a challenge, and I thank you for all of your hard work over the years to make the process run smoothly, even during a pandemic." Cathy Jackson, current CFMT board Scholarship Committee Chair, emailed thanks to her fellow committee members soon after the 2021 recipients were announced last fall. "This work we do is no small thing,” Cathy wrote. "It is by this bit of work that we are able to fulfill the hopes and dreams of hundreds of potential students — some in the more usual student age ranges, and some who are embracing the opportunity at a later age to gain more learning toward future advancement. "In this current time of the 'pandemic days,' education is more important than ever!” CFMT board and Scholarship Committee member Gail Williams is herself a recent retiree from an administrative post at Vanderbilt University. She relishes her volunteer responsibilities on the committee. "Thank you for allowing me to serve,” Gail said in an email to the committee. "I always enjoy it, and what joy and hope to see so many students benefiting from the generosity of so many.” A few years ago, Pat was asked to share a couple of her favorite stories of students who received a scholarship from The Community Foundation. “One recipient received a $500 scholarship and traveled 300 miles from home to an unfamiliar campus with no additional money to get back home. He worked on campus for spending money and did well academically. When he came home after the first year, he called to say thank-you for the scholarship awarded to him. He shared that knowing that someone believed in him kept him going through a tough freshman year,” Pat recalled. “Another great story is one of a student who had a child in the 11th grade and qualified for the Heloise W. Kuhn Scholarship for parenting teens,” she continued. “She went to college, enrolled her child in quality day care, graduated with a major in accounting, and now has a master’s degree. The Community Foundation scholarship she received during her four years of undergraduate work made her life somewhat easier, and she made the best of that situation.” Enjoy your retirement, Pat Cole, although we don’t dare lose your telephone number!
THE CLOCK STARTS TICKING
ON MAY 4 AT 6 P.M.
Presented by The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee
#bigpayback
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