New Hampshire One of Four States Awarded $2.9 Million Grant

CONCORD: New Hampshire Department of Education announced today that New Hampshire was one of four states in the country to receive a $2,943,000 federal grant through the U.S. Department of Education to help expand access to career pathway opportunities and prepare students for careers in STEM-oriented fields.

The New Hampshire Out-of-School-Time Career Pathways Initiative is a collaboration between the New Hampshire Department of Education, Nita M. Lowey 21st Century Community Learning Center programs (21st CCLC) and the New Hampshire Learning Initiative (NHLI). Collaborative members will work with the Conway, Hinsdale, Laconia, and Manchester school districts as well as industry partners in those areas, including Graphicast, NH Aviation Museum, Eastern Slopes Aviation, Eversource, GS Precision, and EPTAM Precision.

“This is a great example of a public-private partnership in which we align the interests of government, non-profit and business communities to benefit New Hampshire students,” said Frank Edelblut, commissioner of education. “These are the types of creative and innovative opportunities that will provide students and teachers alike the opportunity to grow and expand their horizons.”

Over the five-year program period, the initiative will build the capacity of the four districts to deliver on supporting students to complete an industry-recognized credential for remote work, supporting students to complete STEM-related industry-recognized credentials chosen from a range approved options, and supporting students to complete paid internships in an in-demand STEM-related work-based learning opportunity with a local employer. Additionally, students in grades 6 through 8 in each district will have opportunities in a developmentally appropriate career learning opportunity and all districts will work to implement a career assessment process to be administered to all students at least twice during their K-12 learning journey.