WC schools awarded WIRED grant

Florida’s Great Northwest, Inc. announced the award of $575,244 in Secondary Education Career Academy Creation grants across Northwest Florida Monday, and Washington County is sharing in the funding.

The grant awards are funded by Florida’s Great Northwest’s WIRED (Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development) Northwest Florida Initiative.

Washington County School District was awarded $200,000 and will be matching that investment with $246,988 to implement Project Lead the Way’s pre-engineering curriculum at Chipley and Vernon High Schools. There is anticipated enrollment in the program of 25 students per grade per school, which will provide opportunity for up to 200 students to participate in the curriculum.

The WIRED Northwest Florida Initiative secondary education grants were developed in 2006 to promote career skills training or intense, accelerated math and science training at the secondary education level for post-graduation employment in Northwest Florida’s targeted industries of Aviation, Aerospace, Defense, and National Security; Life Sciences (Human Performance Enhancement, Medical Device Manufacturing, Medical Technologies, Health Services, and Biotechnology); Information Technology; Engineering; Renewable Energy and Environment; Transportation, Logistics, and Distribution; and Construction Product Manufacturing.

Florida’s Great Northwest is committed to support the development of six specialized foundations that work as basic economic engines driving a diversified and sustainable economy. The development of Northwest Florida’s workforce is one of these specialized foundations and is a focus of Florida’s Great Northwest’s initiatives.

The demand for a skilled workforce in the target industries continues to grow as Northwest Florida’s existing businesses expand, other businesses locate in the region and entrepreneurial technology companies emerge. Growing our own talent to meet the employment and on-going educational needs of the critical industries is vital as high-wage, high-skill jobs expand within the region.

Information technology services and research and engineering services are two critical support industries that have been identified as being inherently essential to the success of diversifying Northwest Florida’s economy. Both information technology services and research and engineering services are cross-cutting fields that transcend all of the target clusters.

All five grants awarded during this 2008 Secondary Education grant funding cycle support programs committed to the development of workforce talent in these two critical support industries.

In the three years that the WIRED Northwest Florida Initiative Secondary Education grants have been available, $2.29 million has been invested by Florida’s Great Northwest into career development programs in secondary education institutions.

Thirteen of the region’s 16 counties have received grant funding and more than $3.7 million has been invested as matching funds to support the development of these programs through the collaboration of local schools, counties, and area businesses, among others.

Qualified secondary education career institutes are modeled after Okaloosa County School District’s CHOICE™ program and/or accelerated math and science training. The CHOICE™ program offers graduates industry recognized certification, high school credit and college credit.

Accelerated math and science training is intended to promote increased student enrollment and success in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) courses.

The accelerated math and science training may include the nationally recognized Project Lead the Way program, a specialized curriculum developed at both the high school and middle school levels. Project Lead the Way’s curricula makes math and science relevant for students by engaging in hands-on, real-world projects that allow students to understand how the skills they are learning in the classroom can be applied in everyday life.

The WIRED Northwest Florida Initiative Secondary Education Career Academy Creation grants will be used for program start-up costs and each recipient is required to match the grant award with no less than a 100 percent match. For 2008, the school districts have pledged a match for the five grant awards totaling $1.12 million. The following five programs receiving grant funding will create sustainable secondary education programs in six of Northwest Florida’s 16-county region.

News Release WCSB

Superintendent of Schools Calvin Stevenson would like to thank Florida’s Great Northwest, Inc. for awarding the Washington County School District $200,000.00 to implement Project Lead the Way’s pre-engineering curriculum at Chipley and Vernon High School.

The grant awards are funded by Florida's Great Northwest’s WIRED (Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development), Northwest Florida Initiative.  An active partnership between local engineering firms and the District has resulted in an additional $75,000.00 pledge.  

Thus far, the students owe a debt of gratitude to Grimail Crawford, Inc. for $25,000.00, Florida Department of Transportation for $25,000.00, Greenhorne & O’Mara, Consulting Engineers for $10,000.00, PBS&J for $10,000.00 and West Point Home for $5,000.00.  Gulf Power has also pledged goods and services. 

The District will contribute the infrastructure valued at $171,988.00 in salaries, facilities, and equipment.  There is anticipated enrollment in the program of 25 students per grade per school, which will provide opportunity for up to 200 students to participate in the curriculum.  These students will follow the standard college bound curriculum with the added benefit of the PLTW courses. 

At Vernon and Chipley High School students will take the following engineering courses; Principles of Engineering, Civil Engineering & Architecture, Introduction to Engineering Design, Digital Electronics, and Engineering Design & Development. 

These courses will offer opportunities to apply the theoretical knowledge gained in their math and science classes through real world problem solving, product design and manufacturing.  They will still be eligible for Florida Gold Seal Scholarships and can earn Bright Futures Scholarships. 

The students wishing to remain local will be eligible to attend Chipola College and enroll in their Engineering Drafting Program.  These students may obtain an AA Degree and then attend FAMU or FSU in Panama City and major in Engineering upon meeting graduation requirements. 

Students willing to attend school away from home can benefit from articulation agreements with several prestigious universities.  Purdue, Duke, Penn State, Eastern Michigan,  Old Dominion , Arizona State, and Wichita State are just a few of the universities already accepting credits earned during high school in PLTW programs. 

For additional information on this exciting opportunity for Washington County students, contact Julia Morales at 850-638-6222, ext. 2230.