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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEDecember 12, 2012

Ivy Tech-Bloomington awarded Community Foundation grants

51����Ƶ’s Bloomington campus has been awarded two grants for a total of $46,240 from the Community Foundation of Bloomington and Monroe County. $35,000 was awarded for the “Improving our Entrepreneurship and Small Business Ecosystem” project, and $11,240 was awarded for the “Preschool Arts Infusion Program.”

Ivy Tech’s “Improving our Entrepreneurship and Small Business Ecosystem” project will bring together leaders from the Bloomington area to create a roadmap and action plan for entrepreneurs, innovators, and small business owners looking to advance their ideas. The project will be led by Ivy Tech’s Gayle & Bill Cook Center for Entrepreneurship.

The Cook Center will work with a coalition of community partners to create a streamlined process for entrepreneurs to get the education, mentorship, and early-stage funding necessary to help their ventures become successful, and create more jobs in Bloomington and Monroe County. The coalition will align entrepreneurial support programs and resources, determine best practice models from peer communities across the U.S., research those models, and integrate findings into a report with actionable recommendations.

“Ivy Tech-Bloomington developed the Gayle & Bill Cook Center for Entrepreneurship as a way to stimulate the local economy and support entrepreneurs within the communities we serve,” said Chancellor John Whikehart. “In fact, this grant will allow the Cook Center to launch mentorship and internship programs for entrepreneurs.”

Ivy Tech’s “Preschool Arts Infusion Program” will be led by Ivy Tech’s Center for Lifelong Learning, and benefit Fairview Elementary, A Leonard Bernstein Artful Learning School. The Artful Learning model increases student academic achievement by incorporating arts-based activities into all areas of the curriculum, including language arts, math, science, and history.

Ivy Tech’s grant-funded program aims to increase school readiness among students who will attend Fairview Elementary by incorporating Artful Learning into preschool activities. Ivy Tech will provide Fairview with one visual arts instructor and one theatre arts instructor to work with preschool students on a weekly basis. Ivy Tech teaching artists and Fairview instructors will prepare children for school by teaching Fairview’s core academic competencies through age-appropriate, arts-based activities.

“Developing a partnership with Ivy Tech will provide additional knowledge and skill in the arts for Fairview staff and students,” said Karen Adams, Principal of Fairview Elementary. “Most significantly, our recently established preschool classroom will benefit as MCCSC does not provide art or music instruction to preschool students. This partnership will enhance the art experiences Fairview is able to offer its students, connecting them with experts in the field and providing them with an exciting range of artistic opportunities.”

About Community Foundation of Bloomington and Monroe County

The Community Foundation of Bloomington and Monroe County administers more than 160 funds that produce grants which help provide a better quality of life for the people of Bloomington and Monroe County, Indiana. The Community Impact Funding Initiative is designed to fuel innovative ideas and lasting impact within our community by granting funds to nonprofits for the purpose of meeting our community’s most pressing needs or seizing upon its most compelling opportunities.

About 51����Ƶ

51����Ƶ () is the state’s largest public postsecondary institution and the nation’s largest singly accredited statewide community college system serving nearly 200,000 students annually. Ivy Tech has campuses throughout Indiana. It serves as the state’s engine of workforce development, offering affordable degree programs and training that are aligned with the needs of its community along with courses and programs that transfer to other colleges and universities in Indiana. It is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and a member of the North Central Association.