December 1, 2005
For Release
Wachovia Partnership East Honors the First Graduating Cohort
Craven County, NC – A Graduate Recognition Celebration honoring Wachovia Partnership East’s (WPE) first graduating class will be held Tuesday, December 13, 2005 at 6:30 p.m. at Craven Community College. Sixteen students who began their educational careers by completing their general education requirements in the WPE Coastal Consortium are graduating with a B.S. degree in Elementary Education. Six of the sixteen candidates are already employed in the public schools as Teacher Assistants.
In August 2002, sixteen graduates started out as teacher education candidates enrolled in a new College of Education initiative at Craven Community College known as Partnership East. The partnership expanded and now includes 18 community colleges, 1 private college, 1 U.S. Air Force Base, and 29 public school partners across three hub sites located at Craven Community College, Wayne Community College and the Rocky Mount campus of Edgecombe Community College. There are now 214 students in 13 cohorts. Interest in the model and the potential to impact the rural communities of eastern North Carolina led to financial support and a name change. In March 2004, the Wachovia Corporation made a gift of $1.25 million; the majority of the gift goes directly to student scholarships. In addition to Wachovia’s gift, a federal grant of $800,000.00 was awarded for the recruitment of special education teachers, the Golden Leaf Educational Consortium provided funds for the establishment of Teacher Resource Centers, and other local groups have created scholarships designed specifically for Wachovia Partnership East (WPE) students.
For many of the original class of partnership students, their first experience on the campus of East Carolina University will be for the graduate recognition ceremony.
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For more information please contact Anne Faulkenberry, Coordinator, Wachovia Partnership East Coastal Consortium, Craven Community College at (252) 638-6492 or Jessica W. Davenport, College of Education Director of Communications at (252) 328-2179.
