The Learning Bank of Monroe has received two grants totaling $5,500 from the Community Foundation of Monroe County to help provide testing and make it easier for some students to get to the learning facility at E. First and Winchester Streets.

     A $4,500 grant will be used to purchase testing materials.  Each testing module costs $37.50 but most students have to complete four of them, meaning each battery of tests costs $150. 

     Another $1,000 grant will be used to buy gasoline cards for students who may have trouble purchasing gasoline to be able to attend school.  The cards also may be used as incentives.

     “We are very grateful for the support of the Community Foundation,” said Vuncia Council, director, Learning Bank of Monroe.  “The grant means that we can support testing for at least another 30 students.  The gas cards mean that transportation, which is a challenge for so many of our students, now can be less of an issue for them.”

     The Learning Bank, an affiliated learning facility of Monroe Public Schools, is a valuable public resource for people who want to go back to school to earn a GED as a way of preparing for a career or preparing to pursue post-secondary education.  The Learning Bank also is open 12 months out of the year and offers learning times during the day and at night at the nearby Orchard Center High School as a way of making it as easy as possible for its students to attend their classes. 

     This grant is made possible through The Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation. 

     "We know that education is a way out of poverty offering a hand up not a hand out," said Kathleen Russeau, executive director of the Community Foundation of Monroe County. "Our goal is to improve the quality of life of in our community."