Rapp students can become ‘Claude Moore Scholars’
The Claude Moore Charitable Foundation (CMCF) has approved $817,050 in grant funding that will allow the Lord Fairfax Community College to greatly expand its health education offerings to area high school students.
The first grant, for $448,529, will benefit nearly all of the college’s service regions through:
• Allowing the college to start offering an emergency medical technician (EMT) program at the Fauquier County Campus;
• Buying equipment for anatomy and physiology labs in Clarke and Shenandoah counties;
• Starting a pharmacy technician program for Fauquier County students;
• Upgrading the patient care technician program in Warren County;
• Creating a sports medicine credential program in Frederick County.
A separate grant from the CMCF is for $368,521 and will benefit the Luray-Page County Center currently under construction. It will be used to provide equipment for the health science lab and the general science lab in the new center, called Jenkins Hall, which is on track to open for the spring 2021 semester.
Students studying in one of the allied health programs at Jenkins Hall will be known as Claude Moore Scholars. The health courses that will be offered there include anatomy and physiology, nurse aide, registered and practical nursing, phlebotomy and physical therapy assisting.
LFCC sought the grants due to the need to prepare high school students for jobs in various health fields. Providing opportunities for them to dual enroll in LFCC and gain certifications and credentials will provide them the foundation to get started on a career pathway. This will lead them to postsecondary education and employment, and can be built upon with more certifications and credentials.
“The LFCC community, including our secondary partners, is grateful to the Claude Moore Charitable Foundation for their support in enabling the region to create pathways for students to pursue health education programs,” LFCC Early College & High School Partnerships Dean Brenda Byard said. “LFCC works closely with healthcare employers and secondary partners to create programs that will meet local, regional, and statewide workforce needs.”
Buying Anatomage tables, or virtual dissection tables, for Clarke and Shenandoah counties will provide greater opportunities for the public schools’ Biomedical Academy, nurse aide, medical system administration, EMT, sports medicine and other pathways.
In Warren County, students can earn their nurse aide certification as juniors, and the grant will allow them to participate in the Patient Care Tech program, which will send them into the workforce with certifications in phlebotomy, EKG and patient care technician.
The grant will also allow the college to expand its EMT Academy to the Fauquier Campus, where students from Fauquier and Rappahannock counties can benefit.
Additionally, Fauquier County Public Schools will be able to start a pharmacy technician program that enables students to apply to Shenandoah University’s Pharmacy program after completing a science degree with 63 credits from LFCC. Many of the courses in the science degree are able to be dual enrolled.
The Claude Moore Charitable Foundation was established in 1987 by Dr. Claude Moore, a successful physician and Northern Virginia landowner who left most of his fortune in trust for the purpose of enhancing educational opportunities throughout the Commonwealth and beyond. Dr. Moore left his estate to the Foundation to increase its capacity for philanthropy.