[View ALL News Press Releases] On Wednesday, March 26, students in Elizabethtown Community and Technical College's Education Program donated books and individual CD players for children at the Panther Place after-school program at Valley View Education Center in Elizabethtown. ECTC student members of the Kentucky Education Association Student Program (KEASP) received a $250 grant from KEA and voted to spend club funds for the additional CD players as a major community service project. The Panther Place serves about 75 children in first through fifth grade with after-school supervision and activities including homework assistance, special projects, arts, crafts, fun and physical activities.

Vicki Seabolt, Panther Place Director, thanked the ECTC students and faculty for their generous donation and involvement. "The students here will enjoy these books for a long time, and we are so very grateful for this generous contribution to our library."

Julie Coy, program coordinator for ECTC's Education Program, said that several hundred students are enrolled in the teacher education program, which offers an Associate in Applied Science Degree in Education, or the first two years of a Bachelor's Degree in Education. "Students who want to teach elementary or middle school can complete all four years of a Bachelor's Degree right here in Elizabethtown by transferring to Western Kentucky University's program on our campus after graduating from ECTC's program," she explained. "Of course, they also have the option of transferring to any number of other universities as well. We're really excited with the growth and success of this program, as we educate future teachers to meet the current and projected demand for teachers in our area."

Panther Place students were excited about the selection of new books, and fascinated with "reading phones" provided by the ECTC students. The phones, built with PVC pipe, are designed for students to hear themselves as they read orally, to help with phonetic pronunciation and enunciation.

For information about ECTC's Education Program, contact Julie Coy at 270-706-8672, or e-mail Julies.coy@kctcs.edu.