Four West Slope school districts, including Montrose County School District, are collaborating to enhance career pathways for their students, and this week, they announced they were awarded $600,000 in money from a $3 million grant to help them do that.

The Western Slope Schools Career Collaborative, as it’s been named by the four participating school districts (Montrose County, Ridgway, Gunnison Water Shed and Delta County), is a non-profit organization with the goal of helping the districts share resources and ideas to increase opportunities for high school students to find paths to careers.

The collaborative was formed in 2021 with help of a separate $1.3 million grant, with that goal in mind, and according to the WSSCC Program Manager Leigh Nansel, a former Montrose High School teacher, the program is just getting off the ground.

The $3 million grant awarded is being shared with other collaboratives across the state and comes from the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade. There is potential for more funds to come through the “Opportunity Now” grant program in the future, as well.

By fostering collaboration across educational sectors and regional economies, WSSCC aims to leverage this funding to spearhead innovative programs in career and technical education, concurrent enrollment, and work-based learning, targeting high-demand pathways such as health sciences, education, and the building trades, according to a release from MCSD.

Specifically, the program will very soon fund certification courses and and assist students in paying for those courses, Nansel said. “Certification courses like wilderness first aid are an example of the type of certifications we have funded.”

They are also putting aside some money to fund industry-focused training and events to help support local industry and to get students connected with potential employers.

Starting in the fall, the collaborative will see that students from all four districts are able to take a hybrid online course dedicated to introducing students to career pathways.

“What that will look like is the students from Ridgway, Delta, students from all the districts can enroll in this hybrid course that introduces them to all the options within a particular career pathway,” Nansel said. “And a key part of this is connecting them to industry, so we will bring employers into those classes, students will be planning site visits to see different industries — possibly a construction site or manufacturing facilities or healthcare facilities, so that students early on can be introduced to those careers.”

All the efforts by the WSSCC align with MCSD’s vision for getting students career-ready as well, according to John Steele, the district’s Career and College Readiness Program Manager.

“In Montrose County School District, we’re really focused in our secondary schools on career pathways, making sure that we have vertical alignment from middle school to high school to post secondary and 16 different career pathways,” Steele said. “So this partnership we have built with the collaborative really helps us extend our impact and opportunity that we can provide our students and healthcare construction trades. And outdoor industry and tourism. But those are just three pathways out of the 16 total, we offer our school district.”

MCSD Superintendent Dr. Carrie Stephenson said via a release that this grant will help further the district’s vision: “This opportunity enables us to expand our vision for rural education in Colorado, ensuring that every student in our Western Slope school districts has access to the pathways that will lead them to successful careers and meaningful contributions to their communities.”

Nansel also expressed her excitement for the award.

“We’re thrilled to be at the forefront of this movement, driving change and opening doors for our students,” she said. “This grant not only acknowledges our collective efforts but significantly amplifies our capacity to build a future where education aligns seamlessly with industry needs.”

Construction fair coming up

Steele also talked about the upcoming Future Builders construction trade fair. This will be the third year for the event, and it has helped see an increase in student interest surrounding the district’s construction trade program.

“The student interest skyrocketed,” Steele said. “It just about tripled. We now have a full four-year course sequence for that program as a result of doing the construction fair.”

MCSD spokesman Matt Jenkins said programs like these impact the community just as much as the students.

“It supports our local economy with growth, with industry, with homes that need to be constructed. We’re getting kids ready to be able to build those homes,” he said.

The Future Builders Fair will take place April 10 at the Montrose County Fairgrounds Friendship Hall from 9 a.m. to noon.

Justin Tubbs is the Montrose Business Times editor. He can be reached by email at justin@montrosebusinesstimes.com or by phone at 970-765-0915 or mobile at 254-246-2260.