26 students graduate TCAT Nursing Program

By Charlotte Underwood

CAMPBELL COUNTY, TN (WLAF)- Friday was the “culmination of a year long journey” in the Appalachian Regional Practical Nursing Program for 26 students enrolled at the Tennessee College of Applied Technology in Jacksboro.

 A Nursing Graduation and Pinning Ceremony was held on Friday evening at 6 pm at the LaFollette Church of God. It was an emotional event for the new nurses as they lit their candles, received their diplomas, and their pins and took the nurse’s oath.

Connect HERE to view the photo gallery from WLAF’s Charlie Hutson.

Opening remarks and a Bible verse were delivered by Kayla Stephens (above) who shared that Psalm 23 was a verse that helped her get through her nursing program.

TCAT Jacksboro President Dr. Debbie Petree thanked community partners, the LaFollette Church of God and the clinical partners for making the ceremony and the nursing program possible. She also thanked the school’s faculty and staff, saying she felt TCAT Jacksboro had some of the best nursing instructors in the state and the country.

“Not only does it take our faculty and staff to make graduation a reality, but we also have several partners to thank; thank you to the LaFollette Church of God for hosting tonight’s event, it is wonderful to work with you. In addition, we want to thank our clinical partners for providing clinical experience for our nursing students. About half of our state approved curriculum takes place in a clinical setting and without the support of those providers, our college could not operate our nursing program,” Dr. Petree said.

Nursing program graduate Jalen Wooley (above) was the graduate speaker for Friday’s pinning ceremony.

“Our hard work and dedication got us here, but behind every graduate is a roomful of people who provided support, playing an important role in this journey….he thanked his fellow graduates and the faculty and staff.

He thanked God for calling him to this journey, telling fellow graduates to “trust God’s timing” as they traveled on their journey into nursing careers.

TCAT Nursing Instructor and LPN Jill Browning spoke briefly.

“Being a nurse means serving with integrity and doing what’s right now matter what,” Browning said.

This year’s Salutatorian award was presented to Hannah Harnes (above) by Camilla Gambrel.

Valedictorian awards were presented to the students who achieved the highest academic honor. This year saw two students receiving Valedictorian awards and those were Alysha Fudala (above) and Kayla Stephens (below).

The Clinical excellence award recipient was chosen by their peers. This year’s award was presented to Maggie Garland (below).

Browning told graduates “to always be the nurse they would want to care for them or their loved ones.”

A special thank you to TCAT’s Clinical partners including:

Community Health of East Tennessee

Cumberland Village

Dayspring-Clairfield

Dayspring-Jellico

Dayspring Pediatrics

Dayspring-Williamsburg

Summitt Medical Group of CC

Tennova Clinic Caryville

Tennova Clinic Clinton

Tennova Clinic LaFollette

Tennova Clinic South

Tennova Health and Rehabilitation

Tennova-LaFollette Medical Center

Tennova Wound Center

Wilkens Medical Group Jellico

Williamsburg Family Medicine (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED-08/31/2026-6AM-PHOTOS COURTESY OF WLAF’S CHARLIE HUTSON)