All Ears Preschool Open House

BANGOR, ME – Come see what the All Ears Preschool is all about at an open house Thursday, August 23 from 3 to 6 pm: learn how this unique school can help your child improve their communication skills in a focused environment.

Meet teacher of the deaf Carrie Pierce, well known in the deaf and hearing community as an ASL (American Sign Language) teacher at Husson College, University of Maine, and the Children’s Museum’s workshops. Pierce holds a BA and MA from Gallaudet University in deaf education.
She will be joined by Teacher’s Assistant Hannah Richards, who is a graduate student in Communication Sciences and Disorders at the University of Maine.
The All Ears Preschool is part of the Warren Center for Communication & Learning’s Voices to Be Heard Program. The program will serve children in our area who are identified as hard of hearing, by addressing their needs in an integrated classroom with their hearing peers. Students who attend All Ears Preschool will to develop the skills needed to enter kindergarten with their hearing peers without the need of interpreters.
“We hope it will have the overall affect of decreasing the educational cost for these students,” says Mary Poulin, Administrator Director of the Warren Center.

Start up costs for teachers for the program is sponsored by a $15,000 grant awarded by the Libra Foundation. Through the Maine Community Foundation grant of $9435.00 the center bought furniture, a Redcat system (a classroom amplification system that will amplify the teacher’s voice for both the hearing and hard of hearing students), and other equipment for the preschool. The Bangor Breakfast Kiwanis club donated $500 towards the program. The Libra Foundation, Kiwanis Club, and Maine Community Foundation support of this program is vital. This is the only preschool program that addresses the unique needs of hard of hearing preschoolers in our area.
The school has a four to one student to teacher ratio.
The preschool school still has spots available. The cost is $60.00 per week for three year olds meeting Tuesday and Thursday mornings. The cost is $75.00 a week for four year olds meeting Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings. For more information about the preschool or other Warren Center programs call Program Director MaryBeth B. Richards at #941-2850 or email mbrichards@warrencenter.org.

####

Organization Background:
The Warren Center for Communication & Learning is Bangor’s oldest not-for-profit professional speech and hearing center. It provides evaluations, therapies and technologies in the areas of speech, language development and hearing to the children and adults of, Eastern and Central Maine. www.warrencenter.org
The Libra Foundation is a family foundation committed to enhancing the human rights movement by supporting innovative and effective work that will lead to real social change. The Foundation supports organizations that promote fundamental freedoms and human rights in the United States and around the world. www.thelibrafoundation.org

The Maine Community Foundation is a reflection of the value people place on strong Maine communities. Since 1983, we have worked with donors to establish charitable funds that support nonprofits and students seeking scholarship assistance.

The foundation is a family of funds–more than 800–and each one has its own focus and philanthropic direction. Like Maine itself, our funds are diverse, created by people of all ages, ethnicities, religions and political views.
In the last 24 years, MaineCF has distributed more than $100 million dollars in grants to worthy projects and students. MaineCF promotes active philanthropy by stewarding charitable funds and by connecting charitably minded citizens to causes they care about.

The foundation also serves as a civic leader, convener and sponsor of special initiatives in the arts, social capital, education, environment and other fields. www.mainecf.org
The Bangor Breakfast Kiwanis Club Kiwanis is a global organization of volunteers dedicated to changing the world one child and one community at a time. koffeekurrents.homestead.com