Suring High School is one of just 18 Wisconsin schools to be awarded a three-year grant to create a model for building career success at the secondary level.
Representatives from Suring were scheduled to attend a pilot project summit Aug. 6 at the Wausau campus of the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, along with representatives from other high schools awarded the Career-Connected High School (CCHS) grant, to set goals and share plans.
“Wisconsin already has strong programs and resources that can help schools build career-readiness skills,” said CCHS project director Karin Smith. “However, some schools simply lack the capacity to take advantage of these programs and resources. This project focuses on addressing barriers grantees may have in implementing these programs, either because the school is small and rural or they have a high population of economically disadvantaged students, or both.”
The goal is to create a model for the pilot schools that can be shared with other schools that have similar barriers, Smith said.
Suring School District Superintendent Paul Orlich said the grant has the potential to help the district.
“We are excited with the prospect of increasing opportunities for our students despite the barriers inherent in being a small rural school district,” Orlich said.
Pilot schools are asked to focus on how they will provide each student with career advising and update their ACP plan annually, how they will align career pathway programs with dual enrollment courses, and how they will build relationships with postsecondary institutions to make dual enrollment courses possible.
The aim of Suring High School is to find the answers to these questions before year-end, Orlich said.
