Kiwanis funds helping Sisters resident

To say that Dawn Cooperhas a busy life is a tremendous understatement. A full-time wife and mother of two teenagers, Cooper also is a part-time advocate at Sisters Family Access Network (FAN), assistant coach of the Sisters High School Varsity softball team, and is taking two courses a semester at COCC in pursuit of her goal to become a registered nurse.

With the help of a Sisters Kiwanis Career Opportunity Fund grant, Cooper has completed Certified Nursing Assistant training at the college. She currently is taking prerequisite courses for the RN program, and will complete that portion of her training next spring.

Cooper notes that "without the Kiwanis funds, I would not have been able to try a career change. The funds were a huge jump-start."

Being a student has had an effect on Dawn's 17-year-old daughter, McKenzie, and 15-year-old son, Colton, both very proud that she has gone to school to start a new career. McKenzie is interested also in a medical profession, and Colton often checks to see that his mother is doing her college homework.

"That's a twist, to have a 15-year-old asking, 'Did you do your homework?'" Dawn said.

Cooper sometimes

completes homework on the bus while traveling to and from out-of-town softball games. Cooper eventually wants to work full-time as a hospice nurse.

"I was with my father when he died in hospice. This will be my way to repay the care he received," she

said.