ULLIN, IL (March 1, 2024) – Shawnee Community College is pleased to announce an Access and Equity Dual Credit Project grant from the Illinois Community College Board for $150,000. This funding will create Project HOPES (Healthcare Occupation Pupils for Educational Success) during the fiscal year 2025.
Project HOPES aims to expand equity and access to rural and at-risk students into the CTE (Career and Technical Education) Health Occupations Pathway by partnering with the 12 high schools in the Shawnee Community College District. Those schools include Anna-Jonesboro, Cairo, Century, Cobden, Dongola, Egyptian, Goreville, Joppa, Massac County, Meridian, Shawnee, and Vienna High Schools.
The grant will expand access in several ways, including creating a fully built Health Occupations Pathway in five of the high schools, exploring flexible instructional delivery methods for students whose schedule or location would not allow for on-site attendance, offering dual-credit courses for health career exploration and occupational math, and providing high school dual credit teachers professional development regarding dual credit/early college programming.
“Healthcare occupations are among the top high-demand occupations in the Shawnee Community College area over the next 10 years. Project HOPES is an opportunity for SCC to partner with our high schools and local service providers to provide students with an introduction and clear path to a fulfilling career that will allow them to earn a living wage here at home,” said Dr. April Teske, SCC Interim Vice President of Academic Affairs.
Some of the healthcare degree and certificate options offered at Shawnee Community College include Associate Degree Nursing, Practical Nursing, Social Work, Phlebotomy, Medical Assistant, Certified Nurse Assistant, and Occupational Therapy Assistant.