2009 Community Grantees
College Spark’s 2009 grant recipients are listed below by region. Some programs serve several locations or the entire state of Washington.
Statewide
Gonzaga University (Spokane) -- $49,246 to assess achievement gaps for low-income students and developing data-based intervention plans to improve retention and degree completion.
League of Education Voters Foundation (Seattle) -- $70,000 over two years to support the Ready for Life campaign to increase public awareness of the importance of higher education.
State Board for Community and Technical Colleges (Olympia) -- $50,000 to implement demonstration projects at five sites (Yakima Valley, Kitsap County, Seattle, Renton and Kent/Des Moines) incorporating the Student Attributes for Math Success strategies and then disseminating the pilot results.
The Washington Center at The Evergreen State College (Olympia) -- $89,200 to implement and assess learning community strategies designed to increase the engagement and persistence of low-income students at five community colleges.
Washington Campus Compact (Bellingham) -- $100,000 to expand and enhance mentoring programs throughout the state by improving mentor training, assessing and disseminating program data, increasing the number of low-income students serving as mentors, and strengthening the statewide mentor program network.
Olympic
Grays Harbor College (Aberdeen) -- $62,700 over two years to implement a mandatory First Year Experience course to improve student success and persistence at a community college serving low-income, rural students on the Olympic Peninsula.
Northwest
Everett Community College (Everett) -- $152,306 over three years to increase the number of low-income students of color who become teachers through assistance with financial aid, advising and education planning, and other supplemental activities.
Green River Community College (Auburn) -- $29,000 to implement a campus-wide training program to improve retention and persistence for low-income students.
Peace Community Center (Tacoma) -- $40,000 over two years to conduct an evaluation of the tutoring, mentoring, and college planning services provided by a program serving low-income students in Tacoma’s Hilltop neighborhood.
Rainier Scholars (Seattle) -- $100,000 over three years to conduct a longitudinal research project to assess the value of particular program interventions on academic success for a program serving low-income students of color in Seattle’s Central District.
Renton Technical College (Renton) -- $287,282 over three years to improve degree completion rates for low-income students by implementing strategies to identify learning disabilities and address different learning styles.
Skagit Valley College (Mount Vernon) -- $97,000 over three years to support a pilot project to implement AVID, a successful academic enrichment program for middle and high school students, at postsecondary schools.
Sound Mental Health (Seattle) -- $50,000 over two years to conduct an assessment of the effect of the Middle School Support Project, which provides wrap-around social services to low-income students on college readiness and academic achievement.
South Central
Columbia Basin College (Pasco) -- $50,000 to increase retention of low-income Hispanic students at community colleges in rural Franklin and Benton counties through mentoring and summer bridge programs.
Eastern Washington University/Yakima Valley Community College (Cheney) -- $50,000 to develop a program to increase baccalaureate degree completion for low-income students at the YVCC-Grandview campus through partnership with EWU.
North Central
Wenatchee Valley College (Omak) -- $98,505 over two years to expand and enhance a pilot project designed to increase transitions of low-income students from adult basic education and development education into credit-bearing classes by incorporating an early detection system for struggling students.