Opinion: Norwalk ACTS director’s weekly shout outs

Anthony Allison is the executive director of Norwalk ACTS.

Shout Out to Léa Futschikthe, an attaché with the French Embassy, who partnered with the country’s top fifty engineering schools to launch a new program, Community College Abroad in France. This program provides students who are traditionally underrepresented in study-abroad programs with an affordable opportunity to attend an educational program in France. The French government pays for half of the $2,300 cost of the program, and funding from grants and community colleges largely make up the difference.

Among the students traveling to France this summer was Matt Stromberg, from Norwalk Community College, who completed a research project on heat reclamation. As part of the program, students who graduate from their community colleges with honors will be offered admission to a French engineering school, where they can earn a four-year diplôme d’ingénieur.

Shout Out to the Community Prevention Task Force (CPTF), a program of the Human Services Council, and the Norwalk Tenants Association, for organizing a free, Family Day BBQ and backpack giveaway for families/individuals who live at Washington Village and Roodner Court. Last year, more than 250 backpacks filled with school supplies were distributed.

Community members can support this effort by donating backpacks (priority need), pens, pencils, erasers, crayons, rulers, highlighters, notebooks, pocket folders, pencil cases and calculators by August 12. Donations are accepted Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m – 5 p.m. at the Human Services Council, 1 Park Street, Second Floor; at the Norwalk Public Library, 1 Belden Avenue; or at the Norwalk Fire Department, 121 Connecticut Avenue.