Grandmother/single mom to receive Beth Watts Scholarship
News Release - Somerset Community College
Contact Dave Cazalet for additional information at 606-679-8501, ext 3202
May 13, 2004--Diane Dattilo said that she and Beth Watts, the late administrative assistant to Somerset Community College President Dr. Jo Marshall, had a lot in common. Dattilo has been chosen to receive a scholarship in honor of the late SCC employee.
“I just hope I can live up to the great person she was,” Dattilo said. “I want to represent her legacy in a positive way.”
Watts died tragically during the Christmas Holidays in 2003. Friends of Watts established the scholarship in her honor in January 2004.
“We think that Diane is a worthy recipient,” said Marshall, who was also a close friend of Watts. “I think Beth would be happy and proud today.”
Dattilo is a single mother of four children. She is majoring in Social Work at SCC. She hopes to transfer to a four-year college upon completion of her associate degree.
“I’m considering both Lindsey-Wilson’s program, which is all here on the SCC Campus, or I might go to Eastern Kentucky University. Eventually, I want to get my Masters’ Degree in Social Work,” Dattilo explained.
Dattilo’s oldest son, James, is also a student at SCC. The nineteen-year-old is majoring in electronics. He hopes to become an electrical engineer. Her oldest daughter, Victoria, is a student at Pulaski County’s Southwestern High School. She is married to John Bean and they have a five-month-old daughter named April. Alicia is Dattilo’s second daughter. She is a 15-year-old student at Southwestern. The youngest child, Joseph, is five and attends kindergarten in Burnside.
Dattilo was born at the Quonset Point Naval Base in Rhode Island.
“I was only there for four weeks,” she explained. “My father was in the Navy. He and my mother were on their way to Vietnam and I went too. I saw a lot of the world before I was five-years-old. I just don’t remember it.”
After her parents divorced, Dattilo spend the rest of her life living in Florida, until she moved to East Burnstadt in 1995. A house fire in 1998 forced the family to move back to Florida to live with her parents. In 2000, Dattilo returned to Pulaski County.
“I felt that Pulaski County was a much better place to raise my family. The schools were better and the kids would be safer here than in Florida,” she explained.
“Actually, you might be interested to know that this is my fourth attempt to get my associates degree,” Dattilo confided. “The first time, while I was still in Florida in an LPN program, Hurricane Andrew hit and caused destruction across the state. The second time I completed 16 months of an 18-month LPN program only to have my car and books stolen. The third time I was in the LPN program at the old Laurel Technical College, when my house caught fire and I had to move back to Florida.”
“I finally got the message that I wasn’t meant to be a Licensed Practical Nurse,” said a smiling Dattilo.
Since moving back to Pulaski County in 2000, Dattilo has worked in restaurants as a waitress. She is separated from her husband.
“I decided I needed to do more with my life than wait tables,” she said. “I decided that as long as my children had food in their bellies and clothes on their backs, I could go back to school. I just knew I could do more. Besides, it’s kind of cool going to college with your son.”
Dattilo is an active member of Oak Hill Baptist church and drives one of the church’s vans on Wednesday nights. She is enrolled in the SCC Ready-to-Work Program managed by Terri Reynolds, which provides jobs and a paycheck for students in need.
“I chose to work at St. Mildred’s Catholic Church in their Outreach Program. Sister Marty Conrad is a great mentor and it’s given me a lot of experience in social issues,” Dattilo said.
Dattilo works at least 20 hours per week at St. Mildred’s, volunteers at her church and takes 15-credit hours (she is a full-time student) each semester.
“I want to be a positive role model for others who are facing difficult life challenges. There are a lot of people out there who have the ability to get more education and improve their lives. I want them to know it can be done. I’m determined to get my college degree,” Dattilo said.
“I was surprised when they told me I had been chosen to receive this scholarship. I just hope I can be as good a person as Ms. Watts,” Dattilo concluded.
Taking a break from college - Diane Dattilo and her son James took a break from school Thursday, May 13, to have their picture made together. Dattilo has been awarded a scholarship in honor of Somerset Community College employee, Beth Watts, who died tragically during the Christmas Holidays in 2003.
