Education Division Tops $1M in Grants WVU Parkersburg

WVU Parkersburg Education Division tops $1 million in grants.

CONTACT: Dr. Cindy Kelley, Education Division chair, 304-424-8345.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The Education Division at West Virginia University at Parkersburg has reached a funding milestone with receipt of a $125,000 grant for its Partnership Project.

The Division has been awarded a grant of $125,000 with joint funding of $91,000 from the Office of the West Virginia Secretary of Education and the Arts and $34,000 from the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation.

With the grant announcement, the Education Division has garnered in excess of $1 million in state, federal and private foundation grants.

It is the first academic division in the college’s history to top a million dollars in external funding. Currently, the division has acquired $1,002,810 since 1996.

"The successful efforts of the Education Division in securing external funding are reflective of the division’s willingness to take the initiative and supplement their capacity to deliver instruction to the area’s future elementary school teachers," said WVU Parkersburg President Marie Foster Gnage. "They are to be commended for their efforts."

The division’s most recent grant acquisition will expand further its Partnerships Project which involves collaboration between the college and local Wood County elementary schools.

"We realize that external funding is key to the Education Division providing quality instructional experiences for our elementary education majors," noted Cindy Kelley, chair of the division.

WVU Parkersburg offers a Bachelor of Arts degree in elementary education. The institution was one of the first colleges in the state to initiate a professional development relationship with public schools as part of its education program.

The Partnership Project has three goals: to better prepare WVU Parkersburg teacher candidates for the profession of teaching; to provide remedial and enrichment services for public school students, and to provide meaningful professional development activities for teacher candidates, in-service teachers and college faculty.

The project involves Fairplains, Mineral Wells, Neale, Worthington and Williamstown elementary schools. The college teaches its instructional strategies course on site at the schools to give its teacher candidates an opportunity to be in an elementary classroom setting as they learn and apply concepts and skills to utilize as elementary teachers.

"The newest grant acquisition will allow us to develop a Center for Teaching Excellence to benefit our education majors and area elementary teachers," Kelley noted.

More than 360 WVU Parkersburg students are enrolled in the Elementary Education baccalaureate program.

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For additional information, contact:
Connie Dziagwa
WVU Parkersburg
Executive Director
Institutional Advancement
304-424-8203