The Altona and District Health Care Board has named Kaylee Franz as the recipient of the 2023 Dr. S.S. Toni Scholarship.
The graduate of W.C. Miller Collegiate says she learned about the scholarship through her grandmother.
"She'd seen it in the paper and I was like, oh, that seems like a really good opportunity. I read through the paper, went on the [Municipality of] Rhineland website, found it, and filled it out."
The scholarship is awarded annually to a resident of Altona, Montcalm, or Rhineland who is pursuing a health-related career.
Franz is planning to attend the University of Midland in Nebraska.
"It's pretty far away for nursing, but it's always been a plan of mine to come back and do nursing here."
Her choice to pursue a nursing degree in Nebraska was made after Midland University recruited her as a goalie for its elite-level women's hockey team.
"I drove down there and took a visit and decided that it was a place to go," said Franz. "There's lots of Manitobans on the team surprisingly, lots of girls that I've played against before in the past and I've known of them or maybe even talked to them before. There are definitely people from around here that are down there too as well."
Why nursing?
"I've always wanted a job that has a bit of variety to it because I've wanted something that I'll be happy with my entire life," explained Franz. "I was drawn to nursing because there are so many different specialties you can go into and you can go into different districts of the hospital. As well. I've always been a bit of a people person -- I enjoy talking to people and learning about people and obviously, the aspect of helping people has always been important to me. And I've always been interested in the biology field, so going to nursing seemed like a really good idea for me."
Dr. Stephen S. Toni spent his entire 45-year career practicing in Altona, where he delivered more than four thousand babies to several generations of families in the area. Fittingly, Franz says she has a definite interest in pediatrics.
"The scholarship is really important because it helps support nurses who plan to come back from school to help smaller communities like Altona continue to have nurses in the hospital."
Given the high cost of schooling, Franz says it's great to have the town's financial support which will allow her to focus on her studies.
- With files from Nicole Klassen -