OUR REGION'S FUTURE. - Virginia Western Community College

BROKERS
OF HOPE
you
h e a r d
the good
news? We
“Have
can go to
college now!” Th ose were the
exclamations that reverberated
throughout Dr. Katherine F.
Walker’s Th e Foundations of
Leadership class at William
Fleming High School – a
program that is the result of a
partnership between Hollins
University, the Junior League
and William Fleming.
Th e old adage “good news
travels fast” held true last fall.
Just two short days after Th e
Roanoke Women’s Foundation
(RWF) awarded the Virginia
Western Community College
Educational Foundation a
$100,000 grant to jumpstart the
Roanoke Community College
Access Program (Roanoke
CCAP), students in Dr. Walker’s
class already knew the news
– and the impact it would have
on their lives.
“Th ese girls could pinpoint
areas that dramatically aff ect their
lives,” says Walker. “Th e dropout
rate is one of those factors. Th ey
understand at a level that’s not
based on statistics, but on what
they’re seeing every day.”
Modeled after the City of
Salem Community College
Access Program (SCCAP),
the Roanoke CCAP is a pilot
program that makes college
available tuition-free to 2009
graduates of Patrick Henry or
William Fleming High School.
Th e program covers the cost
of tuition at Virginia Western
� rough the generosity of women like Kandy Elliott (left) and Ginny
Jarrett (right) and the entire Roanoke Women’s Foundation, the
Roanoke Community College Access Program will begin in 2009 and
off er 2009 graduating seniors from Roanoke City an opportunity to
attend Virginia Western Community College for two years tuition-free.
8 • Spring/Summer 2009 Virginia Western Educational Foundation Alumni & Friends News • Volume 2 • Issue 2