FGCU president urges funding to sustain program

It's been bridging the gap between low-income preschoolers and their more fortunate peers with astounding results.

Now, the ELLM program is nearing its end — and needs help to keep up its success.

ELLM — which stands for Early Literacy and Learning Model — was in the spotlight Feb. 3 at a celebration summit at the Edison College Collier campus in East Naples.

While two ELLM officials told an audience of about 100 area educators how the program works, two educational leaders called for community support to keep it going.

"We have a challenge: To keep this program going, it has to be funded," said Bill Merwin, president of Florida Gulf Coast University.

Merwin spoke on behalf of the Southwest Florida Alliance of Educational Leaders, of which he is the founding president.

"We have been very pleased and proud to be affiliated with this program," he said. "The 25 leaders of the alliance embrace ELLM and want to take it to more schools."

Dottie Gerrity, a member of the ELLM Chairman's Council, welcomed the audience and introduced keynote speaker Cheryl Fountain, ELLM project director , professor and executive director of the Florida Institute of Education at the University of North Florida.

"We recognize that to give children the American dream, we must give them the opportunity to learn and read," Gerrity said. "The ELLM project has shown extremely high results — really high results — even better than we expected."

Gerrity also commended the people involved in the project in its volunteer component, SEEDS, or Skills-based Educational Experiences Delivery System.

"If not for our volunteers, this program wouldn't have had the success it's had," Gerrity said.

"It was through the efforts of Kim Long that ELLM was brought to Collier County."

Long is executive director of Fun Time Early Childhood Academy in Naples and a local leader in preschool preparation.

Gerrity said that in the long run, the results of ELLM will improve the life of all Floridians through the power of education.

FGCU and its College of Education have been partners of ELLM since the program was established three years ago.

Merwin told how Long came to his office one day and explained the program to him, noting the success it had in Duval County and Jacksonville schools.

"I was impressed. I thought, this is pretty successful stuff," Merwin said. "If you wonder why a university president is involved with 3-and 4-year-olds, I don't have any investments in their company — I just want them to have a better life. I see an opportunity for little kids to escape the opposite of that. I would hate for us to lose these little guys."

Merwin said that during the first year of ELLM, its leaders applied for and received a $750,000 grant. Funding for the SEEDS program at that time also was critical, he said.

"I saw the value of this program by its results," Merwin said. "It was to become a three-year project. It's up to the community now to keep it beyond that. I'm encouraged by Gov.

(Jeb) Bush's budget request for education. He's included a section for a valuable prekindergarten increase of $165 per child.

We could pay for ELLM with this, if it's approved (by the state Legislature). We could fund it with an endowment."

Now, with one year left, ELLM has asked for $850,000, Merwin said.

"By 2007-08 we'll be at the end of the project. Someone has to pick this program up. I don't intend for my university to walk away from it," he said.

"Now the word is out. I urge all of you to get behind this project."