Northern Essex Community College student Raylene Casey Sousa of Amesbury was recently awarded the Joseph LeBlanc Memorial Scholarship, named for the father of NECC Professor Joseph LeBlanc, former coordinator of the journalism program and faculty adviser to The Observer, the NECC student newspaper.

Casey Sousa, a local professional hair designer, enrolled in Northern Essex Community College to pursue her lifelong dream of becoming a writer. A 1980 graduate of Amesbury High School, this single mother will graduate in May 2012 with an associate degree in liberal arts: writing option.

She was nominated for the scholarship by NECC English professor Terry Cargan, who labeled Casey Sousa’s performance in two of Cargan’s online classes as “exemplary”.

“She’s proven herself to be not only highly intelligent and creative, but also to be consistently eager to learn and to exceed assignment requirements. These qualities alone, have made her a strong role model for her classmates…her generosity to her fellow students has been outstanding…The information she provides in each case is insightful, thorough, well-written and sensitively worded.”

For additional information contact Alison Cody, NECC director, private sector fundraising at acody@necc.mass.edu or 978-556-3612.