Georgia’s Gwinnett Technical College is better assisting nursing students thanks to a $10,000 grant from Kaiser Permanente Gives. The funding made it possible for Gwinnett Tech to award $1,000 scholarships to 10 nursing students.
One of those students is Heidy Sosa.
“Since I came to the U.S. six years ago from the Dominican Republic, I have been working hard to pursue my dreams,” Sosa said in a release. “Without Kaiser’s gift, I would not have been able to continue my education.”
Colorado
Red Rocks Community College’s IDEA Institute will have students tackling real-world issues with the help of a $15,000 grant from the Xcel Energy Foundation. The college will pilot an engineering design challenge for local high schools to develop a solution to a real-world issue around food, energy and water. The funding will go toward developing workshops for hands-on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), as well as holding a competition next spring. Engineering faculty and students in the IDEA Lab at Red Rocks will support the high school teams.
The long-term goal is to increase the STEM workforce with skilled, innovative and diverse individuals.
“IDEA Lab projects that find an innovative solution to create a better world, such as a solar-powered well-pump that we designed for a community in Mali, West Africa, attract a diverse set of students, especially women and underrepresented students,” Jeremy Beard, IDEA Lab faculty, said in a release.
Illinois
McHenry County College is grateful to an anonymous donor for a $500,000 gift that will help the college promote sustainable urban agriculture education. The new project will provide experiential learning related to organic food production, business management and marketing. The college will use the funds to research sustainable agricultural trends and practices, develop programming to support the needs of farmers, facilitate partnerships across the agricultural community and promote the use of sustainable practices and food production in the region.
The gift was facilitated by the McHenry County Community Foundation.
Iowa
Muscatine Community College (MCC) received a $20,000 grant from Monsanto Muscatine. The school will use the money for it’s Loper Hall/Student Success Center renovation. When the $1.9 million renovation is done, the building’s lower level will include new student-oriented and flexible learning spaces, collaborative work areas and quiet study rooms. Electrical, technology and other key infrastructure pieces of the building also will be updated.
Pennsylvania
Delaware County Community College will use a $438,525 grant to help to Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients to pursue a college education. The college has received continuous funding for this pursuit since the launch of its KEYS (Keystone Education Yields Success) program in 2004.
Students in the KEYS program get help navigating academic programs and maintaining satisfactory academic progress. They also can benefit from advising, tutoring and other available services.
The grant funding comes from the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services.
Virginia
Virginia Western Community College will use a $40,000 state grant to help area entrepreneurs. The college will develop entrepreneurial programming at the RAMP (Regional Acceleration and Mentoring Program) business accelerator in Roanoke to benefit independent contractors, freelancers and others.