LEAP at Frederick Community College
The Leadership, Enrichment, Achievement Program at Frederick Community College is a personal growth and enrichment class for transitioning students and youth with intellectual and developmental disabilities. This course helps students develop positive habits and a proactive approach to life as they design personal mission statements, explore individual talents and gifts, and learn to apply their strengths and passions to the workforce, post secondary education, and adult world.
Highlights of LEAP at FCC:
- LEAP is taught by an FCC Adjunct Professor of Psychology.
- Traditional FCC students attend classes to support an inclusive learning environment.
- Each student goes through the FCC registration process and receives a college ID.
- Students receive a voucher for the bookstore to purchase items.
- Students eat lunch in the Cougar Café and participate in campus activities.
- Students who have completed LEAP have also taken other enrichment and credit classes at Frederick Community College.
- LEAP is a collaborative project between The Arc of Frederick County, Frederick Community College and Frederick County Public Schools.
Expansion of LEAP at FCC:
The Arc of Frederick County, Frederick Community College, and Frederick County Public Schools will expand their partnership to support students to enroll in credit and enrichment classes already offered on the college campus. Additionally, The Arc and Frederick Community College will collaborate to evaluate current courses offered on the college campus and work together to design customized courses that are accessible to students with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Traditional FCC students will participate in customized courses. Support will also be offered to help transitioning youth and students to identify activities on the campus they would like to join and to build natural connections for students on the college campus.
Self-Determination
Project outcomes will be shared with state and other funding sources such as a way to demonstrate that opportunities of higher learning can be used as an alternative to segregated vocational training programs. Courses on the Frederick Community College Campus will provide opportunities for students to gain skills that they will use in career areas that are of interest to them. Social circles will be broadened meeting other students on the college campus who have similar interests as them.
Contact
For more information on LEAP at Frederick Community College, please contact Aaron Stephens at (301) 663-0909 extension 26 or astephens@arcfc.org.
The Arc of Frederick County is grateful to The Walmart Foundation School-to-Community Transition Project for supporting and expanding LEAP at FCC.
The Arc would like to recognize The Maryland Developmental Disabilities Administration, Frederick County Government, The John J. Leidy Foundation, and The Frederick Challenger Civitan Club for supporting The Arc to expand opportunities of higher learning to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
