Career Center vies for $10K grant
Coshocton County Career Center students stand in front of the school’s 10-passenger van they are hoping to replace by winning an NBC Channel 4 grant. In the center of the photo is Principal Eddie Dovenbarger, wearing a black trash bag, to illustrate that students have to wear trash bags to protect their clothes from the rain, since the current van leaks.
COSHOCTON – NBC Channel 4, out of Columbus, is sponsoring a school grant program called Make A Difference. They are giving away three $10,000 prizes to schools in three different size categories. This year, the Coshocton County Career Center is competing for one of those prizes.
NBC Channel 4 is sponsoring this program to help and enhance the lives and opportunities of K-12 students in Ohio. To qualify, schools have applied in one of four categories: Think, Serve, Shine, and Connect. “Think” is for schools that will be using the $10,000 for improving and enhancing learning opportunities in the fields of math and science. Serve is for schools that are involved in their communities; the money would be used to improve or benefit their communities in some significant way. Shine is for programs and activities that encourage kids’ participation in or enhance their participation in physical education, music, or art. Finally, Connect is for schools that plan to help students through improvements in technology-based programs, helping students work more effectively through information technology.
The Coshocton County Career Center has submitted a grant application in the small school, category for Serve. It hopes to replace an old, 10-passenger van, which was donated to the school a few years ago. The van has many miles on it and currently leaks when it is raining. Principal Eddie Dovenbarger says that students often wear trash bags to protect themselves when it rains.
The van is used to transport students to job sites, community service sites, or on school field trips. Specifically, the van is used by CSI who volunteer at the Coshocton County Memorial Hospital, helping in the kitchen and laundry departments, and by Early Childhood Education students who travel to area daycare and preschool facilities, volunteering with toddlers and pre-K children, three to four times a week.
Two finalists will be selected in each school size category, based on popular vote. The Career Center is encouraging community members to vote online by visiting the www.NBC4MakeADifference.com website, or by ‘Liking’ their grant application on the NBC4 Make-A-Difference Facebook site. Voting opens on Monday, Feb. 4 and concludes on March 7.
The three winning applications will be selected by a panel of five judges, and will be announced on May 16.
Category: Education
