DeLauro Announces Federal Education Grants for Amistad America, Connecticut Humanities Council

DeLauro Announces Federal Education Grants for Amistad America, Connecticut Humanities Council

WASHINGTON - Congresswoman Rosa L. DeLauro (Conn.-3) today announced two federal grants from the U.S. Department of Education for Connecticut's Third Congressional District. Amistad America, Inc. received a grant in the amount of $496,000 to expand and enrich its educational services to students and teachers throughout the U.S. The Connecticut Humanities Council of Middletown received a grant in the amount of $99,200 to expand the nationally acclaimed Motheread/Fatheread program in Connecticut. The funding was administered through the Education Department's Fund for the Improvement of Education.

"Increasing accessibility to important resources like the Amistad and Motheread/Fatheread helps maintain our commitment to education in this country," said DeLauro. "This funding will help expand these projects to students and their teachers and parents."

"I thank the Connecticut delegation for aiding our efforts with this grant - the third we have received to support our education initiatives," said Chris Cloud, president and CEO of Amistad America, Inc. "Amistad is proud to serve as Connecticut's flagship and tall ship ambassador. This support will allow us to continue to share the Amistad's proud Connecticut story with students and teachers from around the country."

"Parents are the first and most important teachers for their children," Natalie Crotty, Director of Reading Programs, Connecticut Humanities Council. "Motheread/Fatheread serves both adults, whether parent or caregiver, and children by helping them connect - often for the first time - to literature and ideas and allowing them to see themselves as thinkers. This funding will allow the program to expand across Greater New Haven and support the planning and initial implementation statewide."

http://www.house.gov/delauro/press/2005/April/amistad_04_15_05.html