Request for Coverage: Celebrating Our Women of Excellence Brunch

• Jacqueline DiCicco Fullen

Having graduated from Beaver Falls High School and Geneva College, Mrs. DiCicco Fullen exudes Beaver Falls pride. She lives on College Hill and taught English in Blackhawk School District for over 35 years. She gives hours of her time to the Neighborhood Watch, Carnegie Library, the Beaver County Cancer and Heart Associations, and the Beez Café— an extension of Tiger Pause ministry. As a life member of Beaver Falls Christian Assembly Church, she has taught Sunday school for over 20 years and co-initiated the idea for the City Prayer Walks, now an annual tradition for over 18 years.

• Wendy Van Wyhe

Best known to the Geneva community as director of City House, Ms. Van Whye teaches students by example to love Beaver Falls through words and actions. She volunteers without recognition at her church, in the soup kitchen and in the urban garden. Recently she recruited five organizations to transform an area on 7th Avenue to a place of beauty, called “Spaces in Between.” She helped found the Beaver Falls Community Development Corporation and, as a board member, seeks to enhance the experience of living and working in Beaver Falls and instill pride in the community.

• Susan Smith

Mrs. Smith’s nominator said, “Susan is seen in her community as the ‘go-to’ woman.” She serves at Second Baptist Church, mentors at Tiger Pause Ministry and aids at-risk youth through Beaver County Rehabilitation Center, where she established the Creating Alternative Pathways for Success (CAPS) program. She counsels students and facilitates group therapy sessions at BCRC’s Aurora Psychiatric Rehabilitation Center. She volunteers at Family Based Decision Making through Prevention, provides mental health counseling to inmates at the Beaver County Jail and, on Christmas Day, takes her family to Beaver Falls High School to serve the community dinner.

• Jerryn Carson

During her 34-year residency in Beaver Falls, Mrs. Carson, manager of Geneva’s Master of Arts in Higher Education program, has served on the Beaver Falls Forever committee and worked with Tiger Pause. She also volunteers on the Community Crime Watch committee and the Christian Community Development group. She cleans and maintains the Rails to Trails path to promote regular exercise in the neighborhood. Mrs. Carson and her husband, Councilman Doug Carson, regularly attend City House events, occasionally host community suppers in their home and stay involved in their church, SOMA.

• Alina Chemini

A senior at Beaver Falls High School, Ms. Chemini has received many distinctions including being National Honor Society President, West Point Leadership Award recipient, Friends of Rachel Club Secretary, Marching Band Treasurer, FCA Bible Club Treasurer and Art Club Vice President. She is active in her church and church youth group. She volunteers in the Elmcroft Assisted Living Home garden, Beaver Falls High School recycling program and Chippewa Township Annual Firefighter Fundraiser. Her nominator said, “Alina serves as a ‘beacon of light’ for her hard work and dedication to education, her family, community and school.”

• Karolyn Williams

A 4.0 senior at Beaver Falls High School, Ms. Williams also takes classes at Geneva College through the Closing the Gap program and was the first in Beaver County to win the Rosamond C. Kay Scholarship. She volunteers at DARE 2XL, Providence Care Center and Tabernacle Baptist Church. When she attends college in the fall of 2015, she plans to major in middle school math education and gain a certificate in special education. Karolyn’s nominator wrote, “Her confidence is beyond all levels. She wants to show other plus-size females that you should always love each other and always be happy with who you are.”

Geneva College presents the 2015 Women of Excellence Awards.

Benedum Room of Alexander Hall