Vigo schools land $1.2 million grant

May 11—The Vigo County School Corp. has received a $1.2 million grant that will enable more high school students to earn more dual college credit — on a college campus.

The grant is through the Greater Education Opportunities Foundation, which received state funding to support accelerated student learning in partnership with local schools.

The VCSC will partner with local higher education institutions. Those involved with the initiative participated in a news conference Tuesday at the VCSC administration building.

"Our current approach is to deliver dual credit on our campus," said VCSC Superintendent Rob Haworth said. "This grant will allow us to have our students attend Ivy Tech, Indiana State University, Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College and Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology campuses" and earn college credit.

The grant covers the cost of college credits and it will enable the district to hire staff to provide tutoring, academic counseling and social workers to help students overcome any barriers.

Transportation will be provided.

Dual credit courses would continue to be offered at the high schools as well, Haworth said.

"I think this is a wonderful opportunity for Terre Haute in the sense that you've got your high school students being given an opportunity, for free, to take real college courses" at the four local higher education institutions, said Kevin Teasley, GEO Foundation founder and president.

Some families may believe their child is not ready for college. But many of them are ready, Teasley said. "We're going to introduce students to the college campus and maybe help them understand they are indeed college-capable children."

So far, three students will attend Operation Catapult at Rose-Hulman, where they will earn one college credit, said Stacy Mason, VCSC director of secondary education.

Doug Dillion, VCSC curriculum coordinator for career/technical education, "has multiple students in multiple programs already identified and ready to be placed," Mason said.

The grant will cover tuition costs for high school students who take certain agriculture courses at Ivy Tech next fall. Others benefiting include students who take courses at ISU next fall as part of a new education professions dual credit pathway that hopefully will encourage more students to enter teaching.

Dillion said he's excited about the opportunity for students to earn technical certificates and even associate degrees as they complete dual credit courses.

He anticipates that by the end of the next school year, VCSC high school students will have earned at least 1,500 additional dual credit hours.

Some dual credit college courses will have prerequisites to ensure students are ready for the college-level class; tutors hired through the grant will be able to help students prepare for any required assessments, Dillion said.

The new initiative is open to any VCSC high school student, although the district also will focus on working with under-represented populations and students who face certain barriers in attending college, Mason said.

"I think we're really keeping this wide open," she said. "While we have some focus areas, we're not going to turn away a student who says, 'I think I really want to try this."

The district also will work to identify students who would benefit.

The grant extends through July 2023. "Our hope is we can show some dramatic gains in the attainment of dual credit," and the district will benefit from another round of funding in the future, Haworth said.

Susan Powers, ISU associate vice president for academic affairs, said the initiative enables students to not only earn college credit, but also to experience a college campus and to see "that it's really not that scary of a place."

It provides a bridge "for students who might not have thought they could go that extra step to enter a college," she said.

Leah Allman, Ivy Tech Terre Haute vice chancellor for student affairs, said the initiative "is so good for the community" and will help make Vigo County a place where people want to live.

She believes it will help drive economic development in the community.

Teasley agreed.

"I think this is the beginning of something really big for Terre Haute," Teasley said. With four colleges and the school district, "you could come up with some really interesting dynamics where corporations would want to locate new businesses here," attracting more people to move here.

In 2021, the GEO Foundation was awarded an $8.3 million Student Learning Recovery grant to support accelerating student learning in partnership with local schools.

It also has partnered with schools and charter schools in Gary, South Bend, Noblesville, Carmel and Indianapolis.

Sue Loughlin can be reached at 812-231-4235 or at sue.loughlin@tribstar.com Follow Sue on Twitter @TribStarSue.