Pivot Charter School students will soon have access to expanded Career Technical Education (CTE) course offerings, thanks to $106,000 in grant funding awarded to the four Pivot charter schools through the State’s K12 Strong Workforce Program.

In December 2020, Pivot received notification that all four of its grant applications had been approved for CTE funding for the 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 school years. The grants will fund the development of career-specific programs – or “pathways” – to help Pivot students learn about and prepare for skills-based careers.

“Career Technical Education is an amazing option for some students to help them get excited about their goals and envision getting into particular career fields after high school,” said Pivot Executive Director Jayna Gaskell. “I’m so proud that Pivot competed for and earned the grant funding that will help us get our career pathways up and running.” 

Each of the four grants will provide funding for an industry speciality local to each Pivot site. Pivot North Bay and Pivot North Valley will receive funding for the Agriscience industry sector, and Pivot Riverside and Pivot San Diego will receive funding for the Business Management industry sector. It is Pivot’s goal is to eventually make many more pathways available to all students such as Food Science and Hospitality and Games and Simulations.

“The collaboration with local organizations and community colleges is part of what makes our CTE  programs so special,” said Lindsey Vining, Pivot Charter Schools Director of Systems and Accountability. “We listen to our students, learn what they care about, and then match their interests with local-area industry leaders and community partners.” 

Pivot expects to begin applying the funds in January 2021 so students will be able to take advantage of the pathways during the 2020-2021 spring semester. The funds will enable students to gain hands-on experiences tailored to the various career fields, such as industry-specific projects and competitions, internships, career counseling, guest speaker sessions, college tours, and more.

For more information about Pivot’s CTE program, please see our previous News post and/or contact Pivot Charter Schools Executive Director Jayna Gaskell at jgaskell@pivotcharter.org.