Mary Pennington is HCTC Ready to Work coordinator

Helping students succeed is the goal for Mary Pennington, the new Ready to Work (RTW) coordinator at Hazard Community and Technical College. In her role, she recruits and provides support for RTW students. She provides advising and counseling in regards to their academic and career goals and workshops that leads to economic self-sufficiency. She also supervises the RTW and Work and Learn coordinators.

She plans to assist as many students as possible in meeting their college and career goals by supporting and guiding them in their educational and career paths.

Ready to Work and the Kentucky Transitional Assistance Program (K-TAP) work in unison to help students succeed. The program includes a work study component that will provide additional income to clients that will not go against their monthly K-TAP benefits. The program also offers support such as career goal setting, academic assistance, and educational planning for students.

Ms. Pennington came to HCTC as a student in 2000 and became a full-time employee as well. She worked full time while taking classes part time. She graduated with an associate s degree and transferred to Morehead State University through the University Center of the Mountains. She obtained both bachelor s and master s degrees through MSU. She has worked for HCTC for 15 years in the Business Office and in Facilities.

Mary lives in Perry County at Grapevine. Her son, Anthony, and his wife, Felicia, have two daughters, Hailey and Harper, making Mary one happy grandmother.