FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Media Contact:

Alyssa Plasek

alyssa@culverpr.com

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Sooch Foundation gives students a head start at Austin Can

Academy

AUSTIN- January 27, 2015- The Sooch Foundation provided a $28,000 grant to fund

certified nurse assistant (CNA) program to Austin Can Academy, a nonprofit dropout

prevention and recovery high school serving mostly at-risk students. A ribbon cutting

ceremony was recently held on January 20 to celebrate the new program. The grant

has provided an on-site classroom complete with clinic beds and equipment, nursing

scrub uniforms for the students and a professor from Austin Community College to

teach the 12-week class.

Mary Ellen Pietruszynski, executive director of Sooch Foundation, said, “Austin Can

Academy fits our criteria of a nonprofit organization that finds innovative solutions to

educate our youth. It was a natural fit for us to start the CNA program at their campus

and we look forward to seeing the impact these students make in the world.”

Celebrating 30 years of providing the highest quality education for all students, Texans Can Academies are graduating thinkers. Texans Can Academies are a unique network of 11 charter schools located in Austin Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio. The schools are tuition-free, open enrollment, public high schools of choice serving students who have struggled in a traditional high school setting. To date, more than 115,000 youth have been given a second chance at life with the opportunity to pursue their dreams. For more information, visit: www.texanscan.org or https://www.facebook.com/austincan.

Photos:

Mary Ellen Pietruszynski, executive director of Sooch Foundation, attending the

celebration of the new classroom at Austin Can Academy.

Left to right: Students Diana Diaz and Kimberly Lugo with Professor Wendy Pickard,

Mary Ellen Pietruszynski and Professor

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