Reading Area Community College has received a state grant of more than $750,000 aimed at supporting adult education.

The school was awarded an Adult Basic Education Direct Service grant through the state Department of Education in the amount of $751,695. The college has been an annual recipient of the grant.

According to Rhonda Hudak, director of grant development and management at RACC, the money is used for a number of programs including adult literacy and GED preparation programs, training for tutors and supporting the partnership between RACC and the Berks County Workforce Development Board and CareerLink to address the core education needs of the non-English-speaking workforce by providing access to English as a second language classes.

State Rep. Thomas R. Caltagirone, who announced RACC's receipt of the grant Wednesday, lauded the impact the grant has on the community.

"These are the kinds of public-private partnerships that net results in our community," he said. "Literacy and continuing education classes are good for families looking to succeed and contribute to the economy. Reading Area Community College is an outstanding resource and ally for those goals, and I'm pleased that the state saw fit to invest in their mission.

"I look forward to providing more opportunities for funding in our community."

Adult Basic Education Direct Service grants are available to school districts, libraries, volunteer literacy organizations, public housing authorities, community colleges and public and private nonprofit organizations.

Kaiya Kizuka, a Reading Area Community College student enrolled in the RACC/Bucknell engineering program has been named to the United States Junior World Championship Snowboard Team. Kaiya will be representing the United States in both the parallel slalom and parallel giant slalom events. This team will be led by Olympian Justin Reiter and Lynn Ott, a World Cup athlete and one of the founders of the United States Snowboard Race Team. The Junior World Snowboard Championships is a competition that will bring athletes from around the world to compete in racing and freestyle events. This year’s competition will be held at Cardrona Alpine Resort in New Zealand from August 24th through September 8th.

During the 2017/2018 snowboard season Kaiya competed nationally in the NorAm “Race to the Cup” snowboard series. At the end of the season she had earned enough FIS points to be ranked among the top junior women open class athletes in the United States. Kaiya is one of three women representing the United States in New Zealand for the parallel slalom and parallel giant slalom events. Kaiya also competed in the Junior World Snowboard Championships last year in the Czech Republic and was the top American finisher in both events.

Justin Reiter states, “I’m really happy to ride with our country’s top riders and to support their goals and efforts on the world stage”.

Ski Roundtop Race Club coach and sponsor Jeff Carr states, “Her hard work and dedication to alpine snowboarding got her where she is today. Kaiya’s success in this sport has only just begun.”

Ski Roundtop Race Club coach Neil Sunday states, “As Kaiya prepares for her second Junior World Championships, I feel confident that she can compete on the international level with success. Her dedication and persistence had made her into one of the top snowboarders representing the United States. A lot of European snowboard federations use the Junior World Championship event as a future planning map of an athlete’s potential, a good result in New Zealand for Kaiya would give her the confidence necessary to continue as a top ranked snowboard contender.”

Kaiya has been snowboarding since the age of 5. Her first race experience was through the NASTAR race program. After a year of racing on those courses which were set for ski racing, she was ready to move to the next level. She then moved on to the USASA Mid-Atlantic Snowboard Series. At the age of 15 she began competing in the open class level at national and international FIS events. At these FIS races she competes against professional and Olympic snowboarders from around the world.

Kaiya graduated Magna Cum Laude from the STEM and Performing Arts Academies at Wilson High School. She received the Presidential Scholarship and is attending Reading Area Community College where she is enrolled in the RACC/Bucknell engineering program.

Kaiya is looking to do well at this year’s Junior World Snowboard Championships. Her future goals include making the JWC team in 2019 and competing in the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China.

Her progress and updates can be followed at @snowsurfgirls on Instagram and Facebook.

Kristy Whitekettle, a RACC psychology major and president of the Alpha Sigma Rho Chapter of Phi Theta Kappa has been selected as an inaugural 2018 New Century Workforce Pathway Scholar, and will win a $1,250 scholarship. 

“We congratulate Ms. Whitekettle for receiving this prestigious scholarship, and are honored to partner with The Coca-Cola Foundation to recognize her outstanding achievements,” said Phi Theta Kappa’s President and CEO Dr. Lynn Tincher-Ladner. “Scholarship programs like this are integral for creating opportunities for students to succeed as they prepare to enter the workforce and for putting college completion within reach.”

This new scholarship is the first of its kind to support students at associate degree-granting institutions who plan to enter the workforce upon the completion of a degree or certificate on a national scale. The program is sponsored by The Coca-Cola Foundation and Phi Theta Kappa.

New Century Workforce Pathway Scholars are selected based on their academic accomplishments, leadership, activities, and how they extend their intellectual talents beyond the classroom. “More than 2,000 students were nominated from more than 1,600 college campuses across the country. It is an honor for us to have a student like Kristy selected from the state of Pennsylvania, and from Reading Area Community College,” says RACC President Dr. Anna Weitz.

The New Century Workforce Pathway Scholars will be recognized during the Association of Community College Trustees’ (ACCT) Congress in New York City in October 2018.

To learn more about developing leadership potential through participation in Phi Theta Kappa programs at RACC, contact Danelle Bower at 610.372.4721.

Reading Area Community College (RACC) and the Schmidt Training and Technology Center (STTC) have been awarded a grant totaling $143,000 from the Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) under the Pennsylvania Manufacturing Training-to-Career Grant Program. With this grant, RACC and its participating industry partners will develop a ‘Training-to-Career’ program focusing on young people (ages 17-24) to provide access to knowledge and skills relevant to local manufactures. The program will teach basic level production skills, along with workplace behaviors, resume writing and interviewing skills.  

This is an intense program during which participants are expected to attend full-time classes, five days a week for six weeks. Upon successful completion, all participants are guaranteed an interview with the core partners and/or companies affiliated with the Workforce Development Board. With successful funding, the first cohort is scheduled to enroll in fall 2018. In the inaugural year, all tuition charges for participants will be waived. Applications will be accepted beginning summer 2018.

Current participating industry partners include Berks Workforce Development Board, Brentwood Industries, Carpenter Technology, Cambridge-Lee Industries, Custom Processing Services, Rm Palmer, R-V Industries and Sweet Street Desserts. Additional local manufactures are encouraged to participate in this effort. Please contact Mike Salute at msalute@racc.edu for more information.

RACC and the STTC have also received a $7,500 grant from American Association of Community Colleges (AACC), the National Coalition of Advanced Technology Centers (NCATC) and the Arconic Foundation for their Creating Connections for Manufacturing Communities with Community Colleges initiative. RACC and the STTC have been selected as one of nine Community Colleges in the Nation recognized as leaders in advanced manufacturing training and education. The nine Community College cohort will develop a “tool kit” of best practices needed for manufacturers to transition their businesses into the 4th Industrial Revolution; Industry 4.0 Smart Factory. The grant will give RACC and the STTC the opportunity to become a leader in offering cutting edge Cyber Physical training and education programs and credentials.

For more information about RACC and the programs offered at the Schmidt Training and Technology Center, call 610.372.4721, or email jvecchio@racc.edu.

It’s been an amazing April 2018 for Reading Area Community College student Amie Croteau. On Tuesday, April 10th, Amie received word that she was selected as the only Pennsylvania student to win the prestigious Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship. Just the night before, Amie delivered an acceptance speech at the PA Commission for Community Colleges ceremony in Harrisburg after receiving the Phi Theta Kappa New Century Pathway Scholarship award. 

As if this wasn’t enough, earlier this year Amie was also awarded the All-PA PASSHE Award; which is a two-year tuition credit applied toward an in-state tuition charge.

Croteau, of Sinking Spring, will complete her AA in Business Administration and AAS in Web Application Development at RACC this semester. She will then continue her education at Bloomsburg University, where she will pursue her Bachelor of Applied Science in Technical Leadership degree. All of her Bloomsburg course work will be covered financially using the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Scholarship.

“I am speechless. I moved to Berks from Las Vegas a few years ago, not even planning on returning to school. Now I’m a New Century Scholar continuing the great education I received at RACC with a scholarship to a four-year college,” says Croteau.

The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship honors excellence by supporting outstanding community college students to transfer to and complete their bachelor’s degrees at the nation’s top four-year colleges and universities. The selection process for these awards is rigorous and highly competitive with approximately forty-five scholarships awarded each year out of thousands of applicants. A review panel of distinguished university admissions professionals and faculty judge the applicants.

The New Century Transfer Pathway Scholar award is given to the student receiving the highest All-USA Academic Team application score in each state; and is sponsored by The Coca-Cola Foundation, The Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation, the American Association of Community Colleges and Phi Theta Kappa. To learn more about developing leadership potential through participation in Phi Theta Kappa programs at RACC, contact Danelle Bower at 610.372.4721.