BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Northampton and Lehigh Carbon Community Colleges are two among five organizations dividing up $2.2 million from Gov. Josh Shapiro’s administration.
The money is to help adults across the commonwealth learn English. The Pennsylvania Department of Education’s Division of Adult Education gave Northampton Community County about $213,000 and LCCC received $290,000 for the effort. Lancaster-Lebanon Intermediate Unit 13 got $999,000. District 1199C Training & Upgrading Fund in Philadelphia County received $448,796 and Beyond Literacy, also in Philadelphia County, was awarded $265,244.
- Lehigh Valley community colleges received funding to teach adult English language learners
- The programming must include civics education
- Northampton Community College will also offer students workforce opportunities
William Schaffer, director of Northampton Community College's Center for College and Career Readiness, said their next class starts in July. The college will be taking on 75 students in Northampton and Monroe counties, up from 50 previously. He said the school’s grant rose by $50,000 this year. It’s the third year they’ve received the funding.
“It's certainly an opportunity for folks to capitalize who may have not had access to educational services,” he said. “And I think this is just an area that we recognize as a need to meet the needs of employers, and certainly introduce folks maybe to some new occupations that they haven't thought about really pursuing.”
"We're seeing a significant increase of Syrian, Afghani, Ukrainian and Russian refugees.”William Schaffer, director of the Center for College and Career Readiness for Northampton Community College
Schaffer said with this grant, adult English language learners will also receive civics education that includes registering to vote, volunteering in the community or taking the U.S. citizenship test. He said participating students are from countries all over the world.
“Certainly why this program is so valuable is we're seeing a significant increase of Syrian, Afghani, Ukrainian and Russian refugees,” Schaffer said.
NCC's program is free. The school teaches beginning, intermediate and advanced English. They also offer a workforce component where students can learn to be a healthcare worker, truck driver or go into manufacturing. Schaffer said students would have to be at the advanced level to enter healthcare or manufacturing and be at the high intermediate level for truck driving. They would also need to pass tests to gain certification in those fields.
To get into the program, students need to be 18 years old and have the papers to work in the U.S.
More information on NCC's program can be found here. Details about Lehigh Carbon Community College's classes are available here.
