Vermont Business Magazine - Community College of Vermont (CCV) student Joseph Chagnon has been selected as the recipient of CCV’s 2017 Legacy Scholarship in the amount of $1,000. The Legacy Scholarship is given annually in honor of a current or past CCV faculty or staff member whose work has had a significant positive impact on students and colleagues. This year’s scholarship was awarded in honor of longtime faculty member Gary Steller, who passed away in February.
Steller taught at CCV for over 30 years, at both the St. Albans and Winooski academic centers. CCV Executive Director Katie Mobley said that Steller impacted the lives of thousands of CCV students. “Gary had a way of drawing out the best in his students and helping them realize that they do have what it takes to be successful,” said Mobley. “I know I speak for students, faculty and staff at CCV when I say that Gary was someone special and we all miss him.”
Former Winooski Executive Director Dee Steffan said that Steller’s impact on his students was profound. “Gary Steller earned his legendary status at CCV as the faculty member that students remembered most, and most fondly,” said Steffan. “With deceptive simplicity, Gary had a way of opening minds to new perspectives, and of switching on the lightbulbs of critical thinking, reading for meaning, and sustained intellectual curiosity.”
Chagnon is a STEM studies major at CCV’s Winooski academic center, and served five years in the Marine Corps before beginning college. “I am grateful for this scholarship because it allows me to take a course for my bachelor’s degree while I work on my associate,” he said. “I would like to thank all of my teachers for their dedication to learning and their passion for their respective courses.”
For more information about making donations to CCV’s Scholarship Fund in Gary Steller’s name, please contact Aimee Stephenson at 802-654-0540 or [email protected].
Source: CCV 6.23.2017