$1 million grant will help expand early childhood education program at BRCC

By Andrew James

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    FLAT ROCK, North Carolina (WLOS) — Dogwood Health Trust has awarded more than $8.3 million to 10 organizations working to expand and improve early childhood education access in the mountains, including Blue Ridge Community College.

“Currently, less than half of children in Henderson County do not have access to quality child care and those working families, approximately 2,000 children in Henderson County are not in licensed child care facilities,” said Shelah Combs, early childhood/teacher education instructor at Blue Ridge Community College.

Combs said Blue Ridge Community College, which received a $1 million grant, is working to increase the pipeline of early childhood educators entering the workforce.

“We’re looking for those that are passionate about working in the field. We know that 90% of critical brain development happens in those first five years of life,” she said.

The grant from Dogwood Health Trust will fund two full-time early childhood education positions focused on recruiting and success coaching.

“Those individuals will help recruit, they will work one on one with these individuals to make sure they are successful in their program of study and reach completion,” Combs said.

The grant will also allow the college to translate courses into Spanish and create more scholarship opportunities for students.

“Well, if we look at impact, even the impact we currently have, over the last three years, we’ve graduated over 100 students in early childhood education, and this will give us the opportunity to actually expand that,” said Blue Ridge Community College President Dr. Laura Leatherwood.

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