Campus News

Grant Awarded for Career Pathways

4/10/19

The Greater Twin Cities United Way recently announced support with a grant of $340,000 for a Career Academies Pathways Project. Minnesota West Community & Technical College, Jackson County Central School District, Windom Area School District and Worthington District #518 in conjunction with the Southwest Initiative Foundation have collaborated to expand educational opportunities for high school students. 

The partnership focuses on high school students participating in a college class while still in high school in high demand career paths such as Healthcare, Manufacturing, Information Technology and Education. For many students, this opportunity helps them determine interests and career paths, as well as, allowing students to receive college credits.

Dr. Kayla Westra, Minnesota West Dean of Institutional Effectiveness & Liberal Arts comments, “Providing students with career pathways while still in high school helps students envision their future. They can learn more about careers and the skills and coursework needed to work in those fields while still in high school, which helps them streamline their post-secondary options.”

Theresa Ireland, Minnesota West K-12 Collaboration Coordinator stated, “I am looking forward to continuing to support the work being done in the three districts, which will benefit not only their communities, but the whole region.”

“In Worthington, we have a number of high quality opportunities for students to begin earning college credit while still in high school. The Career Academies Pathway Project allows us to give more students a solid understanding of what type of career path they would like to pursue.This project is one of the ways we hope to encourage our young people to find a career they are passionate about and stay within the region to make a positive impact”, adds Josh Noble, Worthington High School Principal.  

In 2017-2018 academic year, 120 students in the region were involved in career academy opportunities, the numbers increased to 160 students in 2018-2019. The continuation and expansion of the program with the grant monies will allow for more students to be involved in the pathways.