Fr. Tim McFarland, C.PP.S., offers a prayer at the start of a CCSJ term.
Congratulations to Calumet College of St. Joseph (CCSJ), which has received a grant of $500,000 from the Lilly Endowment through its initiative, Advancing the Science of Reading in Indiana. The purpose of the grant is to prepare pre-service and in-classroom educators to teach reading more effectively.
CCSJ is sponsored by the Missionaries of the Precious Blood. It is one of 28 Indiana colleges and universities that received grants from Lilly Endowment to support reading educators. The college will use grant dollars to revise its teacher education curriculum to reflect this goal. Additional grant funding will be used for professional development in area schools.
“Teachers are our greatest resource,” said Dr. Sean Egan, Director of CCSJ’s education department. “As one of the few approved Science of Reading providers in the Northwest Indiana region, we are honored to partner with local schools to make a positive impact in the lives of young people. We look forward to working with teachers, principals and superintendents so that they can share the lifelong benefits of early literacy with their students.”
Education has long been one of the majors available at CCSJ. “Education is one of the original majors we established, one that carried over from our days as an extension of Saint Joseph’s College,” said Brian Lowry, a CCSJ alumnus and adjunct professor who is now the college’s director of communications.
“We are often referred to as ‘the teacher of teachers’ in the region. Our teachers tend to serve in either Catholic schools or in the public/charter schools in the northern industrial core of Lake County, Ind. These school systems tend to face the greatest challenges, as they are embedded in communities with low educational attainment and face significant financial distress.
“In short, our graduating teachers tend serve students with the greatest needs in this part of Indiana, something that gives us the opportunity to embody our mission in meaningful ways.”