| BATON ROUGE, La. – The Louisiana Department of Education today announced recommended award winners for round two of the state’s Jump Starting Jump Start grants. State Superintendent John White made the announcement at Central Middle School in Gonzales, during his statewideLouisiana Believes tour.The Department is recommending to the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) eight grant awards to seven Jump Start Regional Teams from across the state totaling $645,000. These grants will help expand career counseling activities with a focus of engaging students in college and career planning earlier in middle and high school. These grants will also create a statewide network of regional workplace experience exchanges (e.g., coordinators that will maximize the number of guest speakers, day-on-the-job opportunities, job fairs and internships for students, and externships for teachers). “These grants will provide thousands of students an understanding of opportunities they have after high school,” said State Superintendent John White. “Every child has a different ambition. Some may want to be welders and others doctors. Some will continue on to a university after graduation, others to community and technical colleges, and many will pursue both career and future education in the years after high school graduation. Jump Start engages students and helps them make informed decisions on their career path.” Jump Start is the state’s new initiative to provide students with basic and advanced career credentials that allow students to continue their education after high school. To achieve the Jump Start credential, students complete graduation pathways of courses and workplace-based experiences developed by Jump Start regional teams made up of industry, colleges, and school districts. Jump Starting Jump Start grants are funded from the state’s 8(g) fund. BESE is expected to approve the grant awards during its October 14, 2014 meeting. Jump Start Regional Team and sub-teams will use the round 2 funding for one of the following two goals: - Increase career counseling capacity: Career counseling enables an engaged adult to interact with high school students to help them understand their college and career options. This round of Jump Starting Jump Start grants will help thousands of additional Louisiana students receive guidance from an engaged adult on how they can attain employment in one of Louisiana’s high-growth job sectors, while also determining what type of traditional or non-traditional college and career training pathways might work best for them. Grants will also help fund training and professional development for school counselors and teachers.
- Develop regional portfolios of workplace experiences for students: Historically students in different school districts have not had equal access to the types of authentic workplace experiences (e.g., guest speakers, job location visits, internships, apprenticeships, etc.) that help students learn about career paths they might pursue. Jump Starting Jump Start grants will make it possible for thousands of Louisiana students to learn more about careers and life opportunities based on the input and guidance of industry experts, both experienced industry leaders and “near peer” recent graduates who have attained employment in high-growth job sectors.
Below is the list of recipients for round 2 of the Jump Starting Jump Start grants: |
