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Foundation awards first Goyette scholarship
Nicholas DeGeorgia of Glenville, NY has earned the first David J. Goyette Vocational Scholarship. The $2,500 award aims to assist students in getting a degree in the skilled building trades, or, as in DeGeorgia’s case, to teach in the vocational field.
Working as a machinist since 2012, the Glenville resident had taken on machinist-training duties which led to an adjunct professor position at Hudson Valley Community College. A year ago he decided to go back to college to get a teaching degree and has been working toward a bachelor’s degree in manufacturing technology and mathematics, which he hopes will lead to a full-time instructor job at a community college.
The Goyette Vocational Scholarship seems tooled for him. Goyette, who died in December 2019 after a year-long battle with lymphoma, returned to college in his 40s and at the age of 49 graduated Summa Cum Laude from SUNY Oswego with a Bachelor of Science in Vocational Education. Goyette’s work as a heating and air conditioning service technician including training others, and he started his career in education by teaching a semester at Hudson Valley Community College.
“As a machinist, the aspect I like that you really get to solve problems as well as manufacturing something,” DeGeorgia said. Teaching presents additional challenges that he finds rewarding. “I like when the mindset of the student changes from just what they can do, to what else they can do,” DeGeorgia said. 
Above, Nicholas DeGeorgia holds his 10-month-old daughter Layla while his wife, Lauren holds their 2-1/2-year-old son Dominic.
Through the application process, it became clear DeGeorgia was recognized as someone who relates to a person’s needs and encourages others to be a better person.
“I feel like Dave’s life calling, to help others, shines on through the awarding of this scholarship to Nicholas,” said Goyette’s wife, Gloria Kavanah. “Nicholas embodies the characteristics Dave lived by and for which the scholarship is awarded: kindness, integrity and a strong work ethic.”
The Goyette Vocational Scholarship will be awarded annually to Schenectady County residents. Candidates are judged on their commitment to their vocation, character references and an essay outlining their work ethic and integrity.
Since 1974, The Schenectady Foundation has awarded more than $600,000 in scholarships to students from Schenectady County. The Schenectady Foundation is a charitable trust established in 1963 to assist and promote the welfare of Schenectady County, NY. For more information, contact Jean Churchill at The Schenectady Foundation at 518-393-9500 or by email at jmchurchill@schenectadyfoundation.org.
