November 2003
Ulster BOCES Career & Technical Center Enhances Literacy Programs through Substantial Grant Funding
The Ulster BOCES Career & Technical Center in Port Ewen is the recipient of three highly competitive literacy grants. Two of the grants are from the New York State Department of Education (NYSED) and provide funding for a three-year period. The third grant, which is a one year award, is from the New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance. According to Hilda Flowers, literacy coordinator, the Ulster BOCES Career & Technical Center is one of only six agencies in the State to receive funds from this grant.
Nearly $300,000 in funds will be provided from the three grants for the ten months remaining in the 2003-2004 school year, with additional funds arriving for the start of the next two school years.
The NYSED Family Literacy Grant will serve families in Ulster County who need ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) classes or classes leading to a GED certification. The three-year grant has a multifaceted approach. In the Family Literacy Program component, parents and children (from one month to 16 years of age) will work together with educators to improve their skills. The classes will be available at three sites - the YWCA in Kingston, the Ulster BOCES Learning Center in Ellenville, and the Career & Technical Center in Port Ewen. Funding will also provide a separate literacy program just for parents who need ESOL or GED classes and another program of activities just for the children that will help them increase their own literacy skills. The final component is a Parenting Program that includes activities and training that utilizes expertise from organizations such as Cornell Cooperative Extension or Ulster County Head Start.
According to Hilda Flowers, "The aim of all of these components of the Family Literacy Grant is to enable parents to become full partners in the education of their children while gaining economic self-sufficiency."
The second NYSED three-year award provides funds for the OneStop Literacy Grant. Currently, the OneStop Center at the Business Resource Center in Kingston, set up through the Department of Labor, provides a free service helping unemployed people do job searches, write resumes, and receive job counseling. This grant will set up a literacy specialist at the Center for testing and referral services. If someone comes into the Center whose employment opportunities might be much increased if literacy skills could be improved, the specialist will be able to see if the person is eligible for learning disability services and can make the arrangements for the person to join a Literacy Training Program.
The one-year Literacy Training Program (LTP) Grant, offered through the New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance, is specific to people who need English for Speakers of Other Language classes. The grant allows enhanced ESOL services to be set up, providing both classes and the services of a bilingual teacher for individual or small group instruction. This is an enrichment service intended to speed up the students' educational progress in order to make them become eligible for employment sooner. Students in these classes must be TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) eligible as designated by the Department of Social Services.
These funds are just part of an overall grant initiative by Ulster BOCES. In the past year, Ulster BOCES has secured over $10 million in grant funds to enrich the educational opportunities of the Ulster County community.
For more information about Ulster BOCES Literacy Programs, or to participate in any of these programs, contact literacy coordinator Hilda Flowers at 845-331-0902.
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