by Frank Lee
operations@thenewsleaders.com
The Sauk Rapids-Rice School District and the Initiative Foundation recently received a three-year grant for more than half-a-million dollars to help students at risk of dropping out.
The grant totaling $618,000 (or $206,000 annually) will be used to develop and implement a “collaborative model for secondary students who are disconnected from school and education.”
“The purpose of the Youthprise grant is to provide alternative programming and to best prepare students for the workforce,” said Sauk Rapids-Rice School District Superintendent Daniel Bittman.
The grant was made possible through a three-year $3 million Social Innovation Fund grant to Youthprise for Opportunity Reboot. SIF is an initiative of the Corporation for National and Community Service, which helps people in low-income communities across the nation.
The project will implement the Integrated Basic Education and Skills Training Model to serve 166 youths, all of whom are economically disadvantaged and/or disconnected from school, 50 percent of who are from communities of color and 25 percent who have disabilities.
“We are very pleased to support the I-BEST model the Initiative Foundation and Sauk Rapids School District will be implementing with disconnected youth,” commented Marcus Pope, Youthprise director of partnerships and external relations.
The SIF grants aim to connect Minnesota’s opportunity youth with services and supports that will lead to careers in high-demand sectors like IT, health care, construction and manufacturing.
“We currently have a program that provides support for students in the 11th and 12th grades,” Bittman said. “But what this opportunity will provide is programming for targeted students or identified students from grades eight through 10 with a focus on work and career readiness.”
Opportunity Reboot targets youth who are either homeless, in foster care, involved in the juvenile justice system or disconnected from school and work. An additional focus is on building social-emotional skills to strengthen education and career outcomes.
“The combination of mentoring, internships and career guidance will open up new career pathways for youth in central Minnesota,” Pope said in a statement.
Bittman said the school district will use the grant to come up with programming starting in the fall by working with partners such as the Chamber of Commerce, the NAACP, St. Cloud Technical and Community College, law enforcement, and cities and businesses.
“In the face of a 40-percent reduction in federal funding for youth-workforce development, these Opportunity Reboot grants are greatly needed to help reduce economic disparities in our state,” Pope said.
Partnering organization staff will work collaboratively with school staff to provide mentoring, authentic internship experiences and career guidance support.
“It’s a different type of education, so rather than students sitting in traditional courses, the curriculum will be targeted more on an applied basis, so students will begin to explore career options and will be working toward, for example, credential programs that will allow them to be ready for certain fields,” Bittman said.
