Ivy Tech Community College Fort Wayne recently learned it is the recipient of a Pauline Barker Education Trust grant to provide adult education to adult residents of Wabash. The proposed project is aimed to eliminate barriers in enrollment, persistence, and completion for Ivy Tech students taking classes at the Wabash County Community Learning Center.

“The Pauline Barker Educational Trust is a long-time supporter of Ivy Tech in Wabash County,” says Joshua Blossom, director of the Wabash County Community Learning Center. “We are grateful to accept the grant, which helps Ivy Tech continue to remove barriers and serving the community by providing additional access to high-quality post-secondary education in Wabash.”

To accomplish this, the $32,500 one-year grant will be utilized in a variety of ways, including:

• Hiring a webcast facilitator and purchased webcast equipment. This will allow Ivy Tech to offer live simulcast courses for students at the Wabash County Community Learning Center being conducted at another location. This helps the College meet minimum enrollment for courses and provides students additional accessibility to courses further along in their educational pathway.
• Purchasing instructional supplies to ensure students have the books and course materials they need to fully engage in coursework.
• Providing support services including transportation vouchers, emergency child care, and certification testing to eliminate financial hardships experienced by students.
• Awarding scholarships for coursework in high-demand fields like CNA, dementia care, long-term care specialist, home healthcare, IT networking, and cybersecurity.

For more information about Ivy Tech course offerings at the Wabash County Community Learning Center, contact Joshua Blossom at 260-563-8828 or visit http://bit.ly/WHivytech.