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As it prepares for major renovations to the Rockbridge Innovation Center, Rockbridge County High School has recently been awarded a $125,000 career and technical education grant. These funds will go towards purchasing and upgrading manufacturing systems equipment at the center.
“This will be a great asset to helping us develop a manufacturing program that is up to industry standard. We want out manufacturing program to serve as a gateway for our students to be equipped with the necessary skills to be successful in our local manufacturing workforce,” said Paige Owens, the division’s director of technology and career and technical education, in an email to The News-Gazette.
The Virginia Department of Education, working in conjunction with the 2022 General Assembly, devoted $3 million to “expand skilled trades programs that lead to students earning industry-recognized certifications or credentials,” explained a VDOE news release earlier this month.
This was a competitive grant to earn as only 24 school divisions in the state were selected. As CTE programs across the nation have become more significant within secondary institutions and the demand for skilled-trades workers has sky-rocketed, this one-time grant was an opportunity for the state to support programs offering trades experience to students interested in technical jobs after school, said the news release.
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Lisa Coons said, “In Virginia and across the nation there are high paying jobs in the skilled trades that go unfilled due to a shortage of qualified applicants. I want to thank the General Assembly for recognizing the need to prepare more young people for these career opportunities and providing the funding for these grants.”
Owens noted that the district will look forward to outfitting the manufacturing lab with these funds once renovations of the Rockbridge Innovation Center have been completed.
