PINELLAS PARK, Fla.—Optometry and opticianry students from across North America submitted projects for the 2011 Students of Vision Scholarship from Transitions Optical, Inc. Supported by the Transitions Healthy Sight for Life Fund, 15 entries demonstrating this year’s “multicultural” theme were selected as scholarship winners.

To encourage creativity, projects were accepted in three categories: Activity/Event, Multimedia and Other. Six top category winners received $1,000 scholarships and nine $500 scholarships were also awarded. Additionally, the top six opticianry students will receive a trip to the ABO-NCLE National Education Conference in Cincinnati in September. While there, students will be able to attend education courses, and present their projects during the poster session. The 2012 program theme, “Leadership,” asks students to explore how they’ll be leaders in the optical industry.

The following scholarship recipients winning entries were:

• Activity/Event category winner:
Yusufali Pirmohamed, Georgian College – Community Outreach Brochure

• Multimedia category winners:
Avin Kishore, Douglas College – Video
Jermi Santos, Douglas College – Video
Natalie Nguyen and Nicole Pogue, University of Missouri-St. Louis – Video

• Other category winners:
Ryan Nicholas, Western University of Health Sciences College of Optometry – Interactive Kiosk
Mariel Ruocco, Camden County College – Scrapbook

• Additional Winners:
Cynthia Epstein, Erie Community College
Ernesto Hernandez, American Career College
Brianna Hulburd, Erie Community College
Jessica Kopala, University of Missouri-St. Louis
Maryann Macchiaverna, Raritan Valley Community College
Tiffany McDaniel, Roane State
Zoila Regalado, DeKalb Technical College
Aaron Shurley, Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute
Lydia Wang-De Jesus, Hillsborough Community College

Several of the winning projects will be uploaded to the scholarship section of Transitions Optical’s professional website, Transitions.com/Pro, to share with industry professionals and other students. Students can also look there for more information on the 2012 program. Submissions for the 2012 scholarship are due by March 10, 2012. For more information, email education@transitions.com.