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Cossatot Community College |
Project LEEP Begins Third Year
08 October 2004
DE QUEEN – Project LEEP (Limited English Education
Proficiency), a $1.2 million federal grant administered at Cossatot Community
College of the University of Arkansas, will begin its third year in October
with 102 participants from 21 different school districts. Participating school
districts include De Queen, Horatio, Lockesburg, Nashville, Blevins, Kirby,
Center Point, Hope, Prescott, Arkadelphia, and Texarkana.
The grant was written in response to the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001
to assist local schools in upgrading the qualifications and skills of their
educational personnel who lack licensure or certification and are serving
Limited English Proficient students. The second focus of LEEP is to recruit
and train people who are interested in working in area public schools with
limited-English proficiency students. LEEP provides participants who are enrolled
at CCCUA, UACC-Hope, or Ouachita Technical College in Malvern, who are working
toward obtaining an Associate’s Degree with scholarships for tuition,
fees, and books plus transportation and childcare stipends.
To date, LEEP has produced five students with Associate Degrees. Lyndi Baker
from Wickes graduated last May from the LEEP program with an Associate of
Arts Degree and Certificate of Proficiency in ESL, and is currently working
at Wickes Elementary as a Pre-K Aide. She plans to begin work on her 4-year
degree through Arkansas Tech this spring. Lyndi said, "LEEP was a great
stepping stone in helping me meet financial needs as I continued my education.
The ESL classes that I took will be very beneficial to my future."
Project LEEP’s Assistant Director Amanda Martin said, “This December,
seventeen more students will complete their ESL Certificates of Proficiency,
and ten students are expected to graduate with an Associate’s Degree.”
Martin noted that LEEP participants, in addition to meeting the requirements
for an Associate’s degree, each of these students must also complete
12 hours of English as a Second Language (ESL) instruction to obtain their
Certificate of Proficiency in ESL. She added that the No Child Left Behind
law states that existing paraprofessionals must comply with new regulations
by January 8, 2006.
In the spring of 2005, LEEP will begin recruiting fifty new participants who
desire to work in the public schools. These students will begin the program
in the fall of 2005, and will have two years to obtain an Associate’s
Degree and Certificate of Proficiency in ESL. Each of these students will
also perform a 30-hour practicum with a teacher who is certified in this area
of instruction. By providing scholarships, childcare and transportation stipends,
mentors, tutors and personal support, LEEP helps to remove barriers that prevent
many people from pursuing higher education.
Three staff members work on the Project LEEP grant: Shelley Thompson serves
as the director of the program and was the principal grant writer. Amanda
Martin is the assistant director, and Rachel Parson is the administrative
assistant. To contact any staff member call 870-584-4471 or 800-844-4471.
Cossatot Community College offers both technical certification and Associate’s
degrees in a wide range of fields on its campus at De Queen, at extension
sites at Nashville and Ashdown, and at cccua.edu. It has an enrollment of
more than 1,000 students, and is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission
of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools.
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