A $16,000 award will help CCC students with purchasing books, needed training and tools. Courtesy photo.
PAGE — A Certified Nursing Assistant student needs important books and tools like a stethoscope and a blood-pressure kit.
An Emergency Medical Technician student needs vital CPR training as well as books and tools.
Thanks to a generous grant from SRP, Coconino Community College CNA and EMT students in Page will get that needed help. SRP awarded CCC $16,000 to help the students purchase books, training, tools, immunizations and more.
“We are very grateful for the continued generosity of SRP and for the support they are willing to provide to Coconino Community College in Page,” said Kay Leum, Executive Director of Extended Learning. “As we build the pre-health programs at our Page campus, the SRP donation is critical to our student success.”
Leum said that while 2020 has been a challenging year for Coconino County, and particularly northern Coconino County, CCC has brought to Page both the CNA and EMT programs.
“Both of these programs were highly anticipated in the community to help fill workforce employment and training gaps,” Leum said.
Both programs come with additional costs – to meet state and organizational requirements – that the students are expected to cover, Leum said. The SRP grant will alleviate that burden for students for the next four semesters. All students receive a stethoscope and blood pressure kit, and students may also qualify to get the cost of CPR training, vaccinations, books, drug screening and travel covered with the help of the SRP grant.
“The equipment the students work with and the financial help they will receive, make the Certified Nursing and EMT courses accessible for all students,” Leum said. “These two health programs are great starts to careers that benefit our communities. SRP has provided the opportunity to take our programs to the next level.”
Gretchen Kitchel, Executive Principal for SRP Strategic Planning and Development, said that SRP appreciates funding projects like CCC’s because it gives students needed skills to be hired locally in needed jobs. That, in turn, will improve the economic condition of communities affected by the closure of the Navajo Generating Station.
“We are not only pleased to help train people in skills for needed jobs, we are also making the local healthcare system more viable,” Kitchel said. “This will encourage people to want to move to Page.”
She added that a stronger healthcare system is a critical amenity to cause more people to want to buy a home and become Page residents, which will improve the local economy, school system and entire community.
SRP has supported CCC generously over the years, and that support has helped CCC develop workforce training programs that best serve the needs of northern Coconino County.
For more information about the Page CNA and EMT programs, contact Leum at CCC in Page by calling (928) 645-6682, or by emailing Kay.Leum@coconino.edu .