The College of Education and Applied Professional Studies recently received
grants of more than than a half million dollars from the U.S. Department of
Education to prepare K-12 teachers of English as a Second Language.  The
funds will support two programs which improve local resources for students
who are not native English speakers.

Directed by Ms. Jennifer Driver, one grant of $257,820 will fund the fourth
year of the five-year program titled Cultural Competencies for Teachers and
Educational Personnel.  A second  award of $262,832 will support the second
year of the five-year Project LEAP: Learning English; Acquiring Proficiency.

Ms. Driver and her program staff hope to augment the number of K-12
administrators and personnel with the knowledge to communicate with and
assist Limited English Proficient (LEP) students.  They also strive to
expand the number of pre-service and in-service teachers who have the skills
and support that they need to serve our region's growing population of LEP
students far into the future.

Congratulations to Ms. Driver on securing continued support for these
important programs!