The Three Rivers Endowment Trust recently surprised the winners of its Excellence Fund grants with a “Prize Patrol.”
Five grants were awarded to selected Three Rivers College faculty and staff members for projects that will help improve the College’s ability to educate and serve our students. Funds for the grants were made possible thanks to community members, employee donations, and fundraising events.
TRET awarded grants for the following:
- CPR mannequins for the Practical Nursing Program in Kennett. According to Practical Nursing Instructor Melinda McElhaney-McKinney, the mannequins will provide real time visual and audio feedback for students enrolled in CPR courses in the Kennett and Poplar Bluff LPN programs.
- “Feed It Forward,” a project through the ACHIEVE program at Three Rivers College that will provide students with materials and knowledge to shop for and prepare nutritious meals. Program Academic Counselor Dawn Price, who applied for the funds, said that ACHIEVE staff members constantly hear of students who are hungry. Price said the project aims to empower students to take care of themselves now and enable them to take care of their families after college.
- Lab kits for the Biology Department that instructors can use to better meet the learning outcomes in the area of protein synthesis. The kits will be used in all life science “face-time” classes on and off campus, said Dr. Kathleen Prejean, Assistant Professor of Life Science.
- Dissecting microscopes to update those in the biology labs. The new microscopes will allow some of the current equipment to be moved to other locations and bolster present holdings, Prejean said.
- A professional development opportunity that TRC Assistant Professor of Communications Margaret Orlando will use to gain knowledge and improve learning materials, lesson plans and more. Orlando stated that the skills she learns will not only benefit her, but also other full-time and adjunct communications instructors at Three Rivers. Orlando will share the information from the conference as she continues to coordinate the courses offered at Three Rivers College.
“I’m thrilled that we were able to award these funds again this year,” said Christy Frazier-Moore, Three Rivers Endowment Trust board member who also chaired a fundraising event last fall to benefit the Excellence Fund. “We want to be able to support our staff, and this is the perfect way to do so.”
“We want to be able to support our staff, and this is the perfect way to do so.” The Excellence Fund is supported by donors who want to make dreams possible for Three Rivers College students. For more information about the Excellence Fund or giving to Three Rivers, visit www.trcc.edu/development.
