PHOTO PROVIDED Megan Zinoble poses for a portrait.

LOCK HAVEN — The Giosue Carducci Lodge of the Sons and Daughters of Italy, Lock Haven, has continuously provided local graduates assistance in their continued education through a number of scholarships over the years.

Recently, those individuals — both current college students and graduates — have chosen to share the impact the Sons’ scholarship program had on them.

Megan (Vilello) Zinobile said the scholarship enabled her to provide mental health services for children and families in Clinton County and beyond.

Zinobile said she was a Lock Haven High School graduate. With the assistance of the scholarship from the Sons and Daughters of Italy, she was able to earn an undergraduate study in psychology at Lock Haven University.

After earning her bachelor’s degree, she said she began her career in the county as a mental health professional serving children and families in the community. She later obtained a Master of Social Work degree from the University of Pittsburgh and spent several years providing community based mental health services, including individual child and family therapy, therapeutic reunification and rehabilitation support to families in the Pittsburgh area.

Later, she and her husband relocated to State College to be closer to family and raise their three children.

“Transitioning from direct practice, I launched a research career at Penn State University, starting in Biobehavioral Health before moving to the Department of Psychology four years ago,” Zinobile said. “In my current role as Clinical Research Coordinator for the Healthy Brain and Child Development (HBCD) Study, I am grateful to be able to apply the clinical skills I’ve honed over the years. This project offers an unprecedented understanding of early childhood brain development through groundbreaking neuroscientific research.”

Zinobile credits the support of the Sons and Daughters of Italy as a component in her success.

“My sons are junior members of the Sons and Daughters of Italy, and our family is proud of the impactful contributions the lodge makes to the community,” she said.