By Cari Noga

You’ve likely heard that starting with fall semester, NMC will become the first community college site of a Ready for Life Academy. Offered for years at Ferris, Hope and Calvin, RFL academies offer students with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities (IDD) an opportunity to attend college alongside their peers.

At NMC, the first cohort of eight students will be enrolled in life skills classes taught by an RFL instructor, as well as one or two NMC classes, most likely on an audit basis. Enrollment is at the discretion of every faculty member. At the March 20 Coffee Club, you’ll have a chance to hear what it’s like to have an RFL student in your class from faculty members at Ferris and Hope, and more details about the NMC program. Guests include:

• Toni Falk, director of Ready for Life
• Dr. Jennifer Blake-Mahmud, assistant professor of biology at Hope
• Kelly Vigants, associate professor of early childhood education at Ferris
• Cari Noga, NMC Communications Director, who initiated the partnership with RFL

Please join us at 10 a.m. in the library fireplace room. Coffee and snacks provided.