Before a crowd of 60 education, law enforcement, business and community leaders, Massachusetts State Sen. Joan M. Menard and State Rep. Patricia A. Haddad presented a $150,000 state check to the Katie Brown Educational Program to fund youth violence prevention education and teacher training in Bristol County schools.
A former public school educator and current Senate majority whip, Menard and Haddad, chair of the Joint Committee on Education, took the leadership role in securing funds for youth violence prevention education.
Based in Fall River, the Katie Brown Educational Program delivers a custom violence prevention curriculum to over 3,500 youth and teens each year in Southeastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Since its founding in 2001, Katie Brown Educational Program’s highly-trained educators have taught 23,000 students from 5th grade through high school. In order to meet the high demand from Bristol County schools and municipalities, the Katie Brown Educational Program is now able to launch its capacity-building plans, The Train the Trainer Program, as a result of this state grant. •
