October 10, 2016 - Albany, GA - Albany Technical College’s Special Needs program will kickoff the Leveraging Education for Advancement Program (LEAP) on Tuesday, October 11, 2016, beginning at 10am in the Kirkland Conference Center.
The new program has been provided through a $2.5 million federal grant funded by the U.S. Department of Education through the School of Public Health at Georgia State University. A five-year grant for students with disabilities, the goal is to develop programs that will allow more students to be included in college life and to meet their potential in becoming productive citizens.
“The goal of the grant is to build the capacity to develop 10 programs that will be able to serve 100 new students per year across Georgia,” said Dr. Daniel Crimmins, Director of the Center for Leadership in Disability and Project Director for the grant.
Currently, the following colleges and universities in Georgia are participating in the grant: University of Georgia, Columbus State University, Georgia Southern University, East Georgia State College, Albany Technical College, and Georgia State University, with four others to be named at a later date. Albany Technical College is the first college within the Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG) to participate in the program.
“There are not many options for inclusion of students with intellectual disabilities after high school,” said Regina Watts, Special Needs/Disability Services Coordinator for Albany Technical College. “A college experience is good for anyone who wants to learn, meet people, prepare for a job and make money, and the LEAP program is an option for students with an intellectual disability to work toward a credentialed certificate that will lead to employment.”
ATC’s LEAP program is already accepting applications for students to enroll for the Spring Semester, which begins on January 4, 2017. For more information or for registration information, potential students can contact Regina Watts, Special Needs/Disability Services Coordinator at 229.430.2854 or rwatts@albanytech.edu, or Virginia Chatmon at 229.430.0919 or vchatmon@albanytech.edu.
