In 2015, the Rosa Valdez Early Learning Center established itself as an Early Learning Laboratory for adults seeking their degrees in Early Childhood Education. Leveraging the State of Florida TEACH scholarship and private funding, interns participating in the Rosa Valdez Lab School are assisted with tuition costs (80% of tuition and books) and mentoring.
Paid and unpaid internships that include study time and discounted childcare, tutoring for test prep, as well as credentialing and testing fees are also available. From 2015-2019, eight women have graduated with their BA and/or AA degrees as part of the program and some didn’t even have their high school diploma when they began!
In addition, one of the eight is currently enrolled in a graduate program. Seven of these women are the first in their families to graduate from college with and the eighth graduate is the daughter of one the initial seven….now that is how you break the cycle of poverty!
In 2018, Cornerstone extended the program to include Nutrition Internships and in 2020 will begin offering Ministry/Non-profit focused Marketing Internships.